Molten Love
by Alpine-Dragon-Queen
Summary: Zoro has caught a lethal fever and falls for the girl that saves him, but she has a dark secret that only he can save her from. Will he save her and have her fall for him or will she distroy him! M Blood and Violence.
1. Odd Awakenings

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, I only own the creation of the Magma~Jade and Fulton's Fever and my OCs: High Cloud, Margalla and Reaka.

A/N: This is a fanfic somewhat based on the odd game my brother and I play, where his Zoro plush has feelings for me and I reject him. So in this fanfic, Reaka (she's Hispanic) will be taking my place as the one he has feelings for, let's see if she falls unlike me. Which means he may be a little out of character at times but I'll try to keep true to it, so forgive me. Also (M) rating for blood and violence, and I'm not big on cursing, I hardly ever do it in real life so I won't using it here. So unfortunately, Sanji and Zoro are gonna seem a little off. Very sorry about this, I feel bad it's ok if you wanna rub it in. ^^

Also I like the Japanese attacks better so I'll be using those instead of the English ones and I'll also be throwing some Japanese words in for effect. ^^

*Edit* I'm going back and fixing the sentence alignment so that it's easier to read for newcomers for this story. ^^

Molten Love

Odd awakenings

"My, my. It would seem that our guest is coming around, eh High Cloud?" Came the voice of an older woman somewhere nearby. Zoro slowly woke up, groaning from the horrid pain that shot through his body. Unable to move his body for the time being he simply opened his eyes to look at the owner of the voice. he saw a woman with her graying hair in a bun who seemed to be in her late sixties, wearing odd looking cloths, a light blue (1)puebla dress with a brown and dark red (2)quechquémitl over it. She sat in a rocking chair embroidering a small piece of linen, as a small, gray fox-like creature lay on her lap licking its paw pads.

"Ma'am, where am I?" He asked, forcing the words from his mouth. At this point, even breathing was painful so he just decided to lay still and wait for a response.

"You, dear. Are in my home and infirmary, you're far from being well, so don't push yourself and just lay still. If you're hungry I can bring you some soup, I wouldn't advise you eat much else." She said to him, still rocking in her chair. Zoro let out a pained sigh.

"Food would be good." He told her as she got up and walked over to the stove at the other end of the room.

"Ma'am, just what is the reason that I'm here and who are you?" Zoro inquired as he looked at his surroundings, he was laying on a hay filled mat on the floor with his head to wall. The room in which he lay was connected to the kitchen and seemed to be the only room other than the restroom, all in all it seemed as if he was imposing on a very poor woman.

"Well, young sir. I'm Margalla Garza and you're here because my daughter found you a few days ago covered in wounds and suffering from a bad feaver," Margalla told him as she lay the clay bowl full of soup next to him and knelled down to help him lean against the wall. "Are you ok to eat by yourself?" She asked as she was about to stand. Zoro's body resisted the painful movement but he nodded anyways, not wanting to make the elderly woman work harder. Noticing the nod Margalla slowly stood up and continued her explanation.

"It would seem that you've been infected with a virus-like-poison called Fulton's Fever, a extremely lethal poison if not taken care of, lucky for you exotic poison and antidotes are my family's speciality. Given that my daughter is the best at it, she treated you, the poison's all gone but its side-effects will last for another one to two weeks, so you should just rest." Zoro forced his pained arms to move and pick up the soup as he listened to her explanation, the soup was a dark red with tripe, hominy, chopped onions and cilantro along with crushed oregano and red chili peppers, and smelled of chili and lime. He took a spoonful and was surprised at its taste, it was very odd, spicy yet oddly soothing. Still slowly eating the soup he heard a pained grunt from Margalla as she sat down.

"But unfortunately for you the side-effects include vomiting, coughing up blood, loss of breath, intense fever, chills, and pain and heat connected to the organs. But I'm sure you'll survive won't you now, Zoro Roronoa?" Margalla said, as she started to rock and embroider once more, the fox-like creature crawling back onto her lap. Zoro swallowed hard as he heard his name, this poor woman who seemed to be suffering to support herself, her pet and her daughter, would more than likely jump at the opportunity to turn him in for a bounty as large as his. Even more so now, since he was sick and weak where just breathing seemed to be unbearable, it didn't help he didn't know where his swords were.

"No point to stressing out, we not gonna turn you in and my Reaka is out cleaning your swords. She's a good swords woman, so she'll take good care of them blades of your's. You just sit back now, rest and eat your soup. You can't be a getting back to yer crew like this, so just relax, (3)Hijo." Margalla said calmly as she closed her eyes and continued rocking, the fox creature, High Cloud yawned and rolled over on its back. Zoro continued to eat his soup as he watched the woman doze off to sleep in her chair. After about ten minutes he finished the soup, putting the bowl on the ground and let out a yawn, since he couldn't get any training done in this condition he might as well take a nap to pass the time. He crossed his arms and leaned his head against the wall, he had just closed his eyes when an arousing sent filled his senses. Zoro shook his head to get rid of the feeling it brought on as he heard the tapping of sandals on wood and the sound of a soft, female voice.

"Mama, I'm back. I brought items from market you asked for and Mr. Roronoa's swords are all cleaned. Is there anything else you need from me before I go train?" Softly said the voice's owner, it was a girl that looked to be about a year younger than Zoro. She had dark brown hair, almost black with natural auburn high-lights, that went to her hips except for her bangs and the "tails" of hair in front of her ears. To keep her hair in place she wore a woven Mexican headband and woven bands on the "tails". Her clothing included a dark purple short komono, meaning it stopped about halfway down her thighs and had slits on the sides for leg movement, with lime green sakura flower pattern on it, she had long form-fitting silk socks that went to her thighs and brown woven Mexican sandals. Possibly the most noticeable things about her were that she was rather large in the chest area and that the sent was coming from her, it smelled of spice and lavender, an odd combination yet still soothing. The girl looked up from the basket of market foods she was carrying and saw that her mother was asleep yet Zoro was awake now.

"Oh, good evening. Are you feeling better? Here." Reaka said as she laid the basket on the counter and walked over to Zoro with his swords, knelling down, the closer she got the more intense sent was. She laid them next to him and stood up.

"Well, I should be going. I have to keep up my training as you know, so I'll be heading out. You should get some more rest, I'll be right outside so call if you need anything." Reaka told him, smiling sweetly as she picked up High Cloud and draped a blanket over her mother then replaced High Cloud to his spot on her lap. She then went over to her mat and grabbed something from under her blanket, once uncovered Zoro saw that it was a beautiful cutlass and very well taken care of. Reaka gave him a smile as she turned out the lights and walked outside to train, the sent drifting away with her.

'There is something definitely screwy here, what was up with that weird perfume she was wearing. Ah, what ever!' Zoro thought to himself and drifted off to sleep.

(1-2) are types of Mexican clothing

(3) means son in spanish

Also I know its not very good, but it's one of my first fanfics, so constructive crit is always good and I'm really sorry about spelling and grammer. ^^

And just incase anyone was wondering what he was eating, it's called Menudo a type of mexican soup.


	2. The Flower's Sent

A/N: Hiya, it's me and I brought a friend. *points at stuffed wolf pup* His name is Gabu, and he's gonna help me out with the story, since his job is to keep Zoro off of me anyways. Say hi, Bu! ^^

Gabu: Gruff! (I think he likes you guys and wants you to enjoy the story, and remember constructive crit is always good. ^^) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Flower's Sent

~Late that night~

Zoro awoke to the sound of low voices speaking somewhere at the other end of the room, wanting to know their purpose he simply listened without showing signs of his awakening.

"How much worse could this get? That month is coming, and we haven't found anyone that can help Reaka. Not to mention, I'm not sure there's enough money to send her to the island, if she can't get there the heat will kill her!" He could make the first voice out as old lady Margalla's now with tears weaved into it, but the second voice belonged to an unknown male.

"Mistress, you and I both know that a male cannot just be chosen. He must be able to smell the scent on the 'Molten Flower', but also strong of will and body to withstand the Trials of Jade!" Zoro opened his eyes slightly to see the owner of the frantic male voice, what he saw was a boy about Luffy's age and fox ears and tail.

'What on earth is he?' Zoro thought to himself but continued to listen.

"I know, High Cloud. But with Reaka's curves and innocent personality every human male that falls head over heels and drooling just at the sight of her. If normal males act that way around her, I can only fear how they may act if they smell her 'Flower's Sent'." Margalla said as she fidgeted with the corner of her quilt.

'"Flower's Sent"? Could that be what I smell earlier, or was that just some perfume...? Yeah, like something like that would ever happen to me!' These thoughts ran through Zoro's head as he continued to listen to their conversation.

"I know, Mistress.. I feel the same, but if she went to the fountain without a male to counteract the Magma~Jade's she could end up going on a rampage with its power and kill hundreds to thousands of islanders without being able to stop herself! We only have a few days left to find the one and get her on a ship to the island, or all could be lost..." High Cloud exclaimed then quickly his attitude turning depressed.

"I know, sweetie. We'll figure something out and it'll all work out in the end, just you wait. Now let's try to get some rest, we'll have a big day tomorrow." Margalla told him as she gently pulled him into an embrace. Zoro was pondering their conversation as sleep took its hold on him and he drifted back to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/N: Yeah, woooow. This one's kinda short, sorry about that, still working on it.

Gabu: *facepaw!*


	3. Poisonus Perfume

A/N: Hiya everybody, we're back with another horribly writen chapter, and it's longer this time! So enjoy!

Gabu: Bark Gar-ru-gruff!

Chopper: He says you should stop being so hard on yourself and that the people reading should enjoy if they like the story! ^^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Poisonus Purfume

~Two days later~

Nami stood on the wood deck of the Sunny, hands on her hips as she tapped her foot.

"Where is that Idiot? The log's gonna set in a couple of days and Zoro's been gone for almost a week! What does he think he's doing? No one can get that lost!" She said aloud and then letting out an aggravated growl.

"Navigator-san, I'm sure he'll be back soon. You should just enjoy yourself while we're still in port," Said Robin, who was laying in her deck chair reading a book, but Nami simply pouted in response. At this Robin closed her book and laid it on the little glass drink table next to her chair, then swinging her legs to the chair, she set them down and stood up. Walking over to Nami and placing a hand on her should to get her attention.

"Navigator-san, I need to go look at some clothing before we leave port. Would you care to come shopping with me, we could bring cook-san to carry the bags." Robin suggested, wanting to take Nami's mind of her anger.

"Nami-swwaaaan! Robin-cwwaaan! I have your drinks!" Suddenly came Sanji's over enthusiastic voice as he came swirling up the steps carrying the girl's drinks.

"I have just made made these beautiful drinks, yet they pale in comparison to you two lovely goddesses!" His voice bubbling over with love, Nami simply rolled her eyes at his actions but took a drink anyways.

"Actually, Robin. I think that's a great idea, I need to pick up some stuff too. C'mon Sanji, we're going shopping." She said as she started to the dock.

"Hai, Nami- san!" Sanji yelled, trailing after her like a love sick puppy. Robin walked over to where Franky was fixing part of the deck, blushing slightly she tapped him on the shoulder lightly.

"Shipwright-san?" She called softly to him, Franky, having heard her lifted up his glasses with his thumb.

"Somethin' you need, Robin?" He asked, looking up from his work.

"Yes, Navigator-san, cook-san and I going shopping for a little bit. Would you mind looking over the ship and the boys while we're away?" She asked him, once again blushing lightly, as of late she had been finding it a little harder than normal to ask things of him. Franky looked over at the grassy deck of the Sunny and grimaced as he was saw Luffy laughing while chasing Usopp, Chopper and Brook in circles with a pointed stick.

"Eeeeeeeeh... Ok, but I can't guarantee their well being while you're gone though..." He told her as he looked in horror of the four of them 'playing'. Robin simply smiled and thanked him as she ran after the others.

~A while earlier~

Zoro stood up and stretched his back and arms, it felt good to finally be able to move with only minimal pain.

"Looks like you got your movement back." Reaka said cheerily as she kneaded the masa for her mother to make the tortillas for their dinner.

"But I would wait one more day before you start training again, don't wanna stress you out again." She warned as she checked the texture of the dough between her fingers.

"You're the doctor." Zoro responded as he let out a loud yawn, stretching his arms wide then letting them fall to his sides as he walked over to stand next to her.

"What're you making, Reaka." Zoro asked as he leaned over her shoulder to look at what was in the bowl she was using, but as his face got close to her's the sent of lavender and spice mixed the cornmeal smell of the masa ripped through his senses.

"It's called masa, mama's gonna use it to make tortil-" Reaka started to explain as she turned towards him but quickly changed the subject as she saw him shake his and let out a grunt, his face turning red from the sent.

"Oh no! Is your fever coming back?" She exclaimed as she placed the back of her hand against the bridge of his nose, wanting to check his temperature yet not to dough on his face. For her innocent personality lead her to believe that it was the poison's fever that made is face red, when in reality that sent was forcing him to use all his will power to not grab her to him there and then, even if it was just to breath in her sent.

"I'm fine, you finish up what have to do, I'm gonna get some fresh air." Zoro told her as he moved her hand with his and turned to head out the door.

"Um.. Ok.. Hey, Mr. Roronoa! I'm heading out to market in a little bit, if you're feeling up to it would you like to come? The walk might do you some good." Reaka asked with a smile.

"Yeah, sure." Zoro said as he made the mistake of looking up at her, with that smile he couldn't defy her if he wanted to.

"Great, I'll come get you when I'm done." He heard her reply as he leaned his back against the wall right outside the door and covered his face with his hand.

"Mr. Roronoa, may my mistress and I talk to you for a moment?" Zoro looked up to High Cloud in his 'human' form inquiring of him.

"Yeah, sure." He responded and then followed High Cloud to Margalla, who was in the orchard.

"Sit, hijo. We have some questions to ask you." She said as she motioned for him to sit a wood stool next to her as High Cloud sat on a nearby tree stump.

"Hijo, as of late you seem to be acting a little strangely whenever my daughter is near. I don't want to be rude but may I ask you the reason?" Margalla asked softly. Zoro closed his eyes and scratched his head, his finger rubbing against his messy green hair.

"This is gonna sound kinda odd, but whenever I'm near her there's always this weird sent. It smells like lavender and spices I guess you would call it, and whenever I smell it, it makes my head start to spin. Does you daughter wear some kind of perfume?" He told them, the only reason he knew what it smelled like was because he had to help Chopper find some one time. At hearing this Margalla and High Cloud looked at each other, a shock exspresion on their faces.

"No, dear. My Reaka, has never like perfume. Not to mention, it would that you are the only to be able to smell. Since we have never and I'm she has not either." Zoro looked up, now he was the shocked one.

"Are you trying to tell me that I can smell the 'Flower's Sent'...?" He asked them, now very confused about the whole ordeal.

"You know about the 'Flower's Sent'! But how?" High Cloud blurted out.

"I overheard you two talk about it a couple of nights ago, but I didn't think anything of it at the time." Zoro responded stiffly. Margalla lowered her eyes.

"Then you realize that you are the only person that save my little one, and what troubles that will bring you... We more than understand if you will not go..." Zoro heard her words and let out a grunt.

"Ma'am, I let a good swords woman die without honor and I had the power to save her that would bring great dishonor to both her and I." He told them and then stood up. Margalla looked up at him.

"So you will go with her?" Margalla asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm sure it shouldn't take too much to convince Luffy to let us use the Sunny." Zoro said as he gave them a small smirk and saw them give a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Roronoa, I'm ready to go!" They heard Reaka yell from the doorway. Zoro turned to go when suddenly Margalla grabbed his arm.

"Hijo, you mustn't tell her that you can smell it for then she would never go with you for fear that you would be hurt because she sees you as a close friend. But also that she must be pure of body for this to work, so no matter what keep that in mind. If your body's will is to slip anything past a kiss will make this forfeit, so keep that in mind also." She told and then released his arm. Zoro nodded and then walked off to head to the market with Reaka.

'How hard could it be? Not any harder then breaking the news to the guys that we have guest, that idiot cook better not try and do anything to her!'

~~~~~~~~~~A/N: The weekends over but since I still have a cold I'm gonna try and work on this between school and playing One Piece Unlimited Adventure! So wish me luck.


	4. Market Madness

A/N: Hiya everybody, we're back with another horribly writen chapter, and it's longer this time! So enjoy!

A/N: Nami really scares me. O_O! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Market Madness

~Market Place~

"Wow, you're right, Robin." Nami exclaimed joyfully as she bounced from shop to shop.

"Oooooooh, look at this necklace! It's beautiful!" She squealed with joy as she picked up a beautiful saphire stone about an inch long in the shape of a heart. The heart was then decorated around the edges with tiny amethyst stones and it hung on a silver chain.

"Are you interested in that piece, miss?" The shopkeeper asked her but became somewhat disturbed when seeing her eyes had turned to beli signs.

"Uh huh!" Came Nami's only response. The shopkeeper gave a nervous chuckle.

"Well, miss. If you're gonna buy it, that'll be $150 Beli." The shopkeeper tried to sound confident but this girl was starting to scare him. At hearing the price Nami slammed her palm down and growled.

"Like that's ever gonna happen!"

"Oh Nami-swwaann, you're so beautiful when you're angr-!" Sanji's swirling love antics were stopped in their tracks by Nami's foot slamming into his face.

"I'll give you $80 beli for it..." Nami told the chubby shopkeeper as her face took on its scary 'the treasure will be mine!' look.

"U-uh, u-um. $125 beli, no lower." He told her nervously but was only greeted by her evil look of murderous intent.

"$85 beli." Nami demanded, removing her foot from Sanji's face. The shopkeeper gulped hard as he saw Sanji fall to the ground, Nami's foot print still burned into his face.

"$115 beli." He said more as question than a statement. Nami pondered it for a second then shook her head.

"$90 beli."

"$100 beli?" He whimpered, hoping she would take it.

"Yosh! Sold!" Nami yelled, slamming down a hundred bucks and taking her prize.

"My precious..." Nami whispered softly as she rubbed it against her cheek and the shopkeeper fainted over the fright. Robin simply chuckled at Nami's antics as she used some extra arms to bring Sanji, who was still stuck in love mode, back to his feet. They then started walking again, each doing their own thing.

~A Couple Streets Down~

"Wow, it's so pretty today! Great for having a mini fiesta!" Reaka exclaimed, as she bounced up and down.

"What's a 'fiesta'?" Zoro asked, clearly trying not to look at the very bouncy Reaka.

"Well, Mr. Roronoa. A fiesta is a special party to celebrate something good happening." She told him as she stopped at a stand and started to look through the vegetables at it.

"Oh, I see. But I'm confused, what're we celebrating?" Zoro said, taking the market bags from her so that she could look through the ingredients better.

"Why you of course, Mr. Roronoa! It's not every day someone survives both Fulten's Fever and its side effects." Reaka told him as she looked over two onions to see which one was better.

"Reaka, since we're friends why don't you call me Zoro. Sound ok?" Zoro asked, feeling awkward that they were doing this for him.

"Oh, Ok!" Reaka said smiling as she turned back to him, holding both the onions.

"Ok then.. Well, Zoro... Wow, that feels weird but anyways. Do you like onions in your food?" She asked him, becoming a embarrassed at their new step in friendship.

"Believe me, Reaka. I'll eat pretty much eat anything, so make it however you think it will taste best." He told her, not being able to hold back a tiny smirk at her slightly goofy attitude. At this Reaka nodded and paid the shopkeeper for the best of the two onions. Then grabbing Zoro's hand, she pulled him towards some stands selling poultry at the other end of the street.

'Sheesh, her hand's really soft and warm...' Zoro thought to himself as he let himself be lead to the next stand by her.

~About Twenty Minutes Later~

Nami lead the way down the cobblestone street, still oddly infatuated by her necklace.

"Eh, Nami-san. Should we pick up a few things for dinner tonight, I'm sure by now Luffy and the rest have eaten everything in the fridge by now." Sanji asked, smoke drifting out of his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." She replied, swatting at him with her hand as she continued to walk and look at her new necklace at the same time.

"Hai, Nami-saaann!" Sanji exclaimed, the smoke coming off his cigarette suddenly become smokey pick hearts filled to the brim with love.

"Hehe, there's swordsman-san. And he seems to be enjoying himself quite a bit." Robin chuckled, getting the sudden attention of the other two.

"Zoro? Where?" Nami asked, a hint of anger returning to her voice. Just then she and Sanji saw him at the same time. He was walking down the street towards them carrying shopping bags and laughing his head off as the very curvy girl walking made funny faces and hand gestures, oviusly telling him a hilarious story. The three of them could only stand there and stare in confusion, never in a million years did they think they would see Zoro look so happy and with a girl as lovely as her. This continued until Zoro and his partner were about ten feet away and he realized they were standing there.

"Oi, guys. What're you doing here?" Zoro asked them as he and Reaka walked up to them.

"what're we doing here? What does it look like? Shopping and waiting for you, you idiot! And who is this!" Nami yelled, pointing at him and Reaka. The girl next to Zoro looked frightened as she leaned up on her toes and whispered a scared question into his ear.

"Reaka, these are some of my nakama. Robin, Nami and our idiot cook, Sanji." He told her and they waved at the mention of their names, except for Sanji who growled at the comment in front of his name. Reaka blushed as she gave a smile. "Oh, I see. It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Reaka Garza." She said and bowed. Robin and Nami nodded to her as Sanji came swirling over.

"Hello, fair maiden! Your knight is here to save you from this unkindly brute." He swooned to her, kneeling down and taking her hand about to kiss it. At this second Zoro noticed that Reaka became frightened by Sanji's behavior.

"Hands off her, stupid cook!" Zoro yelled, dealing a hard fist to Sanji's head, making him let go of Reaka's hand.

"Just what do you think you're doing, Moss head!" Sanji yelled, grabbing Zoro by the shirt collar.

"What does it look like? Protecting her from you, Butterfly face!" Zoro yelled, doing the same as Sanji. At this, the two of them started yelling at and fighting each other even harder. Nami and Robin saw that Reaka was getting upset so they walked over to her and each placed a hand on her shoulders as Nami explained the two did that all the time. But this didn't stop Reaka from trying to make Zoro settle down.

"Zoro, you gotta calm down! Otherwise you'll make yourself si-ck again..." Her comment was made late as Zoro suddenly placed a hand to his mouth and started coughing, blood seeping through his finger and splattering on the cobblestone beneath him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: Awww, isn't he sweet protecting Reaka like that...?^^


	5. Deciding Dinner

A/N: Wow, that one seemed to take forever to write!

Gabu: Grah Grrrr Grral!

Chopper: He says you have to stop staying up 'til 2-4 in the morning writing these everyday!

Deciding Dinner

~Market Place~

Nami, Sanji and Robin looked on in shock as Reaka hurried over to Zoro, who was still coughing up blood, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Zoro, I told you. You have take it easy for a while now still, the poison's side effects aren't completely gone yet!" She told him starting to sound very worried.

"Poison!" All three of Zoro's nakama blurted out in shock. Reaka turned to them.

"Yes, when I found him a couple of days ago he had been infected with a virus-like poison called Fulton's Fever." She told them, still worried about Zoro. Robin's eyes got very wide at the mention of the poison's name.

"Robin, what's wrong? What's Fulton's Fever?" Nami asked her, noticing her look of horror.

"It's a very ancient and rare, lethal poison that's nearly incurable..." Robin responded, her voice sounding as if she was in a daze. At this Nami and Sanji's long line of shocked looks still did not end.

"What? Seriously? Is it that bad?" The two of them practically yelled. Robin, still dazed, nodded.

"Yes. Those who actually make it past the poison usually die or kill themselves the day after they awaken from the poison's sleep, because the horrid and torture-like pain is too much for the body to handle or want to handle." Nami and Sanji's mouths fell open a tiny bit at the sound of the side effects. Robin turned to Reaka.

"Reaka-san, you said that he was past the poison? But how? There is almost no known cure." She asked, and Reaka turned to respond.

"Well, my family is a very long line of users of exotic poisons and antidotes. So I knew what kind of antidote to give him. But so far he's gone three days of putting up with the side effects, that's the second longest record of someone living through this. The first belonged to a man who lived through the two weeks of side effects then died two days later of a gunshot wound." She told them, giving a shrug at the ending sentence.

"I brought Zoro here to the market so he could get some fresh air, and because it doesn't usually get too exciting here so I thought it would be ok. But it would seem I came to the wrong conclusion." Reaka said, scratching her head, looking slightly upset at herself. Nami suddenly started to feel bad for yelling at Zoro and Reaka, seeing as Zoro was really sick and that Reaka had the best of intentions for him.

"Yeah, thanks alot you idiot cook!" Zoro said angrily as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, he had now finally stopped coughing. Sanji was about to yell something back when he saw that Reaka looked like she was about to cry for making the wrong decision. His sense of chivalry of took his sense of pride. So swallowing hard, Sanji turned to Reaka and gave a slight bow.

"Worry not, Reaka-san. It was I that brought this." He told her, his face turning red with anger as he saw Zoro give him a mocking smirk out the corner of his eye, but said nothing about it. Hearing what Sanji said made Reaka feel a little better, just then she slammed the side of her fist onto her palm.

"I know, why don't we invite them to the fiesta?" She asked looking up at Zoro with a big smile on her face.

"Sure, but it might not be a good idea. You don't have alot of money and our crew eats alot!" Zoro warned her, but unable to defy her smile. Reaka put her hands on her hips and gave him a confident smile.

"Zoro, you underestimate us poor people. We can make alot out of nothing!" Zoro looked her and sighed.

"Ok, but we're gonna need more stuff." He said then turned to Nami and the others. "Nami, go back tell everyone they're invited to dinner at Reaka's house. We'll come and get you when all's ready." He told them as he wiped the blood on his hand off onto the side of his pants and picked up the market bags.

"Well, it was nice meeting you. See you tonight!" Reaka said as she grabbed Zoro by the arm and ran off in the other direction, dragging Zoro behind her.

"C'mon Zoro, let's get some more stuff for dinner!" Once again Nami and the other two stood there shocked, looking at the two of them run off. "Well, she seemed nice." Robin said, letting out a light chuckle, finally breaking the silence. Nami could only keep looking straight ahead, her eye slightly twitching.

"That was waaaay beyond odd, and was I the only one to notice that Zoro was acting kinda weird...?" She asked, the others simply shaking their heads in reply.

"Well... I guess we should head back to ship and tell everybody we're invited to dinner..." Robin said, turning around and heading back to the ship. The other tow nodded and followed her, all of them still very confused at the whole ordeal.

~Reaka's Home~

"Mama, we're back!" Reaka called as she and Zoro walked into the house. Margalla looked up from where she and High Cloud were making tortillas, it was still early in the morning so there was plenty of time for things to cook.

"Welcome back, dears. How was the market?" She asked as Reaka and Zoro laid out the new groceries.

"It went great, we got a bunch of great deals and met three of Zoro's nakama. I hope it's ok, I invited them to join us tonight." Reaka told her mother as she folded bags. Margalla smiled up at them, clearly happy to hear that more guests would be coming while High Cloud on the other hand did not look so thrilled.

"That's great, sweetie. I'll make lots of extras. You go set up the decorations."

"Great, c'mon Zoro!" Reaka exclaimed as she pulled Zoro by the wrist outside to pick decorations.

~Thousand Sunny~

Nami set foot on the Sunny's wooden deck and called out.

"Oi, guys. Gather around I've got news!" She yelled out nice and loud so that everyone could here. Nami waited a few seconds then saw the boys scurry over from whatever it was that they were doing.

"Aaah, Nami. You're back! Hehe, what's up?" Luffy said with a goofy smile on his face as he slingshoted himself onto the railing of the wood deck.

"Yeah, Nami. What's going on?" Usopp inquired as he walked up on to the wood deck with Brook, Chopper and Franky behind him. "Well, guys. We found Zoro at the market place with a friend he made a couple of days ago when he went missing. And it would se-" Nami started to tell them but was cut off by Luffy.

"Woohoo, Ya finally found Zoro! Is he coming back soon? Did he find anything good to eat? Did he run into the marines? Di-" This time it was Nami's turn to cut him off by dealing a hard fist to his head.

"Shut it! I'm trying to explain!" She yelled, then fixing her posture she continued.

"As I was saying... Zoro's new friend has invited us to have dinner with them at her house." She finished telling them.

"Hehe, so... Zoro's finally found himself a girl then? That poor girl!" Usopp chuckled as he fixed the string on his slingshot.

"Never! Reaka-chan would never fall for an uncomely moss brain like him." Sanji retorted defiantly to Usopp's accusation. Nami just rolled her eyes at them.

"Anyways, we're all going so be ready for when they come to show us how to get there, ok?" She demanded.

"Yes, ma'am!" Came the reply from everyone at once.

~Crew's Arrival At The Garza Home~

The Straw Hat crew set foot on the grounds of the Garza homestead. It was small and looked like it could barely house one person let alone four, with Zoro included.

"Stupid Marimo, imposing on this poor family!" Sanji growled, delivering a swift kick to Zoro's head. Zoro turned around growling back, about to do something but was stopped by Reaka.

"No, no. It's fine, really. He hasn't been a problem at all, really." She said, swatting her hands up and down at his comments.

'I really gotta keep these two away from each other.' Reaka thought to herself.

"Come children, let the fiesta begin." They heard Margalla call to them from the yard. They all walked over and where welcomed by Margalla and High Cloud. After the many introductions the food and drinks were passed and then the party really started. Sanji looked on delight at seeing dishes he had never seen before and all of them he wanted to try and cook. There was tamales made with both beef and cheese and some even with raisins mixed with the meat, menudo, soft tacos made with shredded beef, chicken and carnitas, enchiladas filled to the brim with chicken and cheese, chile varde over rice, chile renos and last but not least, beans, both refried and whole. The drinks were beautiful to behold! There were icy raspberry margaritas, watermelon agua fresca, frozen and unfrozen horchata, and pina coladas.

"Tonight we celebrate Zoro's recovery and the meeting of new friends! Kanpai!" Reaka cheered as she raised her glass of watermelon agua fresca to the air.

"KANPAI!" Came the cheerful yells of everyone around the table.

~Near The End Of the Fiesta~

Twilight had drawn near and the party had settled down a bit now that almost everyone had their fill and more than enough food was left. Everyone was doing something to enjoy themselves, Sanji was talking to Margalla about how to cook the dishes they had eaten that night, Robin and Nami talking to Reaka about the beautiful Mexican peasant dress she was wearing that night, Brook was playing the violin while Franky watched Usopp and Chopper play with High Cloud (who was now back in animal form) making sure they didn't wreck anything. Zoro swallowed a bite of the enchilada he was eating and turned to his captain, who shoveling leftovers into his mouth.

"Oi, Luffy?" At the sound of his name Luffy looked up at Zoro and swallowed his mouthful.

"Nyaa?" Came his reply as he sat blinking dumbly at his first mate.

"Reaka needs to head off the island for something very important tomorrow and I need to go with her for reasons I can't say, and I wanted to know if it'd be ok that we take a little detour from the One Piece to take her on the Sunny?" Zoro told him, hoping that Luffy wouldn't want an explanation. Little did Zoro know that Luffy trusted him completely and was fine with little things like this as long as there was adventure.

"Nyaa~ Sure, she can come." At hearing this Zoro gave a small smirk.

"Thanks, captain. Now eat up before it gets colder!" He said as he slapped Luffy up the side of his head with his hand. "Heeheehee~" Luffy laughed as closed his eyes and his grin got wide. Zoro sat chewing the rest of his food as he watched his captain shovel in more food and the rest of his nakama having a great time.

'Perhaps this will go smoother than I thought.' This was one of the many thoughts that passed through his mind as a cool evening breeze drifted by taking the twilight with it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: all food and drinks mentioned were mexican, if you haven't tried them I advise it. They're all very yummy or so I've heard about some of the drinks. *Is too young to drink* Once again Nami is very scary, I tried to get her and Luffy's attitudes right but it's kinda hard for me, tell if I even got a little close. I'm at the doubting stage of my writing right now. Also, in here I called Zoro Luffy's "first mate" of the crew, and that's because he seems like that to me. I'm not sure if he really is or not, but he's always helping Luffy and Luffy looks to him to look after the others when he's gone. So there, that's my reasoning.

So now I'm saying good night, because it's 3 AM here and I'm never gonna get over this cold if I don't sleep. So I hope you enjoyed it and G'knight! ^^


	6. Sudden Arousal

A/N: Yeah another chapter, sorry this one took so long. Was really tired the past few days and didn't finish 'til right now... *is 3:30 AM* So hope you enjoy it, this one was rather interesting to write..!~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sudden Arousal

~Sea Port~

"So, you guys heading out on another big adventure?" Reaka asked Zoro as she bounced on her toes with her arms crossed in front of her.

"What'd you mean, 'you guys'? You're coming too or did you forget you have to get a certain island by certain time?" He asked her in a joking mock as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. Reaka simply blinked at him, slightly dumbfounded and then suddenly jumped and hugged him.

"You mean you guys are gonna take me to the island and I don't have to go with strangers?" She exclaimed with joy as she pressed her cheek against his collarbone and continued her friendly hug. Zoro was somewhat shocked at her sudden action and unfolded his arms from under her, careful not to touch her.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure how a crew can get any stranger than this one." He told her, not quite sure where to put his arms at the moment.

"Now Reaka, don't suffocate the poor boy." Margalla called from behind, she was partly referring to the fact that Reaka was smashing Zoro's lungs with her hug and the other part referring to what the 'Flower's Sent' might be doing to him judging by his slightly reddened face. Hearing her mother's voice, Reaka let go of Zoro.

"Haha... Sorry about that, Zoro... Hahe..." She laughed nervously as she rubbed her head in embarrassment. As Reaka suffered from the embarrassment Zoro walked over to Margalla to grab Reaka's bag.

"Becareful, hijo. Many a thing has gone wrong around Reaka's oddness and child-like innocence." Margalla wearily whispered in Zoro's ear as he picked up the bag from her. Zoro nodded to her as Reaka came skipping up to them.

"Bye mama, bye High Cloud. Take care of yourselves while I'm gone, okay?" Reaka said as she gave them each a big hug. Margalla smiled and grasped her daughter's wrist and patted it.

"You be good too, sweetie. Don't go makin' trouble for Zoro and the others." Reaka nodded happily at her mother than ran after Zoro, who was making his way to the Sunny. Margalla smiled once more as she saw the last of the Straw Hats board the ship and heard Nami call out.

"Ok guys! Set sail!" Margalla looked down at High Cloud, who was in his animal form but still had a worried look, and petted his head.

"Do not fear, High Cloud. All will end right in the end." She told him as they waved one last time to the Straw Hats then turned to go home.

"I hope you're right, Mistress."

~On The Sunny~

"Hey, Reaka. Could you show me to what island we're going to so I can map it out?" Nami asked as she walked up to Reaka, who was admiring the ship at the time.

"Sure, I'd love to!" Reaka said, turning to face her and follow her to the dining room.

~At The Dining Table~

Nami sat down at the table across from Reaka with a map.

"Ok, so here's a map that shows all the known islands around here. Which one is it?" She asked as she spread out the map facing Reaka, who looked over the map intently.

"So... Reaka?" Nami asked, her words slightly drawn out as she placed her albows on the table and then her chin on her fingers.

"Hmmm...?" Came Reaka's reply, she was still trying to find just the right spot on the map.

"Is there like anything... You know... Going on with you and Zoro..?" Nami asked, trying not sound too straight forward and offend her. Reaka simply looked up at her.

"What do you mean, Nami?" Nami could by her face that the girl was completely and innocently confused about the question.

"Oh, nothing... Oh! Did you find it?" She said, swatting off the question and then changing the subject, seeing that Reaka had her finger on the map.

"Huh...? Oh! Yeah, I did! It's right here, Jadefyre Island." She said with a smile.

"Uhhhh.. Reaka. There's no island here..." Nami told her, sounding a little nervous.

"I know, Nami. But normal people arn't allowed on this island so it wasn't put on the map. But I've seen it on maps passed down by my family and I've even been there once." Reaka told Nami as she took a drink from the glass of water Sanji had just came and given to her.

"Oh, Ok then. But why is secret, is there some sort of treasure there?" Nami asked, trying to keep the lust for treasure out of her voice.

Reaka simply looked away and shook her head.

"I can't tell you the reason..." She said then looked at the clock.

"Oh no, look how late it is! I really gotta start my training." Reaka exclaimed as she drank the last of her water and was about to leave.

"Reaka, if you don't wanna get your komono dirty I can give you some of my cloths to train in. I don't need them anymore." Nami said as she motioned for her to follow.

"I'm sure Zoro in the crow's nest by now, you could train with him."

~Crow's Nest~

'I've got to get back to training. Getting sick took alot of my time and strength.' Zoro thought to himself as he continued to lift weights, but stopped when he heard someone coming up the ladder. He was surprised to see Reaka's smiling face.

"Hi, Zoro. Would you mind helping me with my training?" She asked him, then seeing him nod she climbed into the room. She was wearing the purple tank top and green biking shorts she got from Nami, and her long hair pulled back in a ponytail. Zoro was shocked as heat shot through him when he saw her, she indeed cute in this outfit.

"Like it? Nami gave it to me to train in, isn't it nice?" Reaka asked him, still smiling.

"Nami gave them to you? And she didn't charge you?"

"Yes to the first and no to the second. You know, these are the newest cloths I've ever had. Wasn't that sweet of her?" Reaka asked gleefully.

"Yeah."

'What's Nami playing at?' Zoro thought to himself as he walked over to get Kuina's sword. Reaka opened her eyes as he was walking back and was shocked horribly at the huge scare stretched across his chest, this had been the first time she had seen him without his shirt. Not wanting to be rude, she quickly looked to his face and pulled out her cutlass from its place behind her.

"Shall we?" She asked.

~Several Hours Later~

Both Reaka and Zoro stood across from each other panting, their swords to their sides. Zoro had been surprised at Reaka's skill and stamina, it was so good that he had to use two swords in order to give her a challenge.

"*gasp* Well.. *gasp* that was a good *gasp* workout.." Reaka said as she turned around to place her sword on the bench. But for Zoro, being locked up in a tiny room with her was too much. Without thinking, he placed his swords down and walked up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her middle and placed his open mouth near her neck, simply breathing in her sent. She smelled of the normal lavender and spice but now mixed with the sent of sweat, telling him of her determination to be a good swords woman. Reaka's eyes went wide at Zoro's sudden movement towards her, too shocked to try and pull from his strong embrace. Suddenly it hit Zoro, like a brick to a glass window, what he was doing and let go.

"Heh..he.. Sorry about that...!" He quickly said as he grabbed his towl off the rack and hurriedly started to rub his damp hair.

"Umm.. Yeah... Well... I should really go... uhh.. Take a shower now.." Reaka said softly as she started down the ladder, neither of them really knowing what to say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: Well, that was awkward wasn't it? But seriously, Alpine? "like a brick hitting a glass window"! I write some crazy stuff at 3AM! Well, G'kight y'all! *passes out*


	7. Rippling Regrets

A/N: Haha, it so didn't take me 'til 3 to get this one done! *is 2AM*

Gabu: Graff Grrr Gruff Grurrr!

Chopper: He says 2AM ain't any better and to go to bed otherwise your teacher's gonna kill you for not doing the homework that's due on monday!

A/N: It's cool, it'll all work out..!

Gabu/Chopper: BAKA!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rippling Regrets

~A Few Minutes Later~

Zoro stopped rubbing his hair and placed the towel around his neck.

'Idiot...' He whispered to himself. Suddenly he slammed his fist into the wall and within a few seconds his head followed suit.

"Idiot! You could've ruined everything!" He yelled at himself, his face pressed to the wall and his sweat soaked green hair sticking to his forehead.

"Ruined what, Marimo?"

Zoro whipped around upon hearing the annoyingly familiar voice to see Sanji sitting on the edge of the crow's nest hatch door, he was holding a tray with food and a mug of sake in one hand while balancing himself with the other.

"What're you doing up here?" Zoro asked in a demanding growl. Sanji simply placed the tray next to himself and looked at Zoro with a bored glare in his visible eye.

"Robin-chan said that you would be training up here and asked me to bring your lunch up to you." He said calmly as the smoke from his cigarette drifted from his mouth. Zoro only grunted in reply and put the towel back on his head and began rubbing again, hoping to avoid eye contact with him.

"So what was it that you regretted so much right now..?" Sanji inquired as he took the cigarette out of his mouth and crossed one leg over the other, but only got another grunt in reply.

"Reaka-chan looked a bit shaken up on her way down... Just what did you do to her up here for so long...?" Sanji demanded, sounding more serious this time. Zoro stopped rubbing his hair, his face turning red with anger at being accused of something as dishonorable as that by someone like Sanji.

"Nothing. Stop accusing people of things they didn't do and get lost, Butterfly Face!" Zoro yelled as he picked up a nearby weight and threw it at Sanji, who quickly slipped down the hatch to the ladder.

'How did it come to be that he of all people would accuse me!' He asked himself as he walked over to the tray of food.

~Grass Deck~

Reaka had just finished making her slowly down the rope ladder, still thinking about what had just happened. She was making her way towards the women's quarters when she saw Nami sitting on the mast bench next Usopp, they seemed to be talking about the three blue poles he was holding.

"Hi Nami, Usopp." She said putting up her best face. Nami and Usopp both looked up and smiled.

"Hi Reaka, need anything?" Nami asked her as Usopp went back to examining the poles.

"Umm, yeah. I wanted to know if I could take a bath and if so, where?" She asked, slightly embarrassed at the question. Nami stood up.

"Sure, I'll take you there. I need to take a shower anyways, c'mon! Hey Usopp, can you take care of that for me?" Nami asked, once seeing him nod she took Reaka's hand and led her to the women's quarters to get their stuff.

~Bath Room~

"So, Sanji-kun said he was gonna make us some nice desserts when we get out. Doesn't that sound great?" Nami asked as she finished putting up a curtain between the shower and the bath for Reaka's privacy.

"Yeah! Sounds great, wanna play some cards while we eat?" Reaka replied as she poured some soap into the gathering water while she undid her ponytail and started to remove her cloths.

"Alrighty, deal. We'll play cards while we eat, but in the mean time lets clean up." Nami said as she rubbed shampoo through her hair.

'That was kinda awkward, I mean other men have always tried to grab me but this time was different... But why?' Reaka asked herself mentally as leaned her head against the tub side, her hair floating all around her. She gently grabbed the soap bubbles floating on the water, then she playfully piled them on top of each other into a mountain shape and blew at them, making the mountain turn into a volcano as the soap exploded into clumps and flew into the air. Playing with soap bubbles always helped her get her mind off of things.

'Oh, well. I'm sure it was just a random hug, we are friends after all, right?' Her innocence trying to lie to her as she slid deeper into the water so that it covered her mouth but she could still breath through her nose.

"So Reaka, how'd training with Zoro go?" Nami inquired, now scrubbing her arms with body wash. Hearing Nami's question, Reaka went bright red as her nose then slipped below water level and her breath made bubble in the water.

"Hey, Reaka! You ok over there?" Nami called, sounding worried this time. Reaka brought her head out of the water and took a deep breath.

"Uh, yeah... Sorry. Training was good, I was able keep up with Zoro for the most part until he got his second sword." She said, finally responding. Nami sighed at hearing this then nodded.

"Great, glad it worked out." She said as she turn the knob to shut off the shower and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself.

"Hey, Reaka? Need any help washing your hair? You sure got a lot." Nami told her, smiling as she pulled back the curtain and sat on the tub side.

"Sure, thanks." Reaka said as she moved under the water towards Nami. Wrapping her arms around her breasts for privacy, she let Nami gather her hair together.

"Nami, I do have one question for you." She said, shivering as she felt Nami pour the cold shampoo onto her scalp.

"Hmmm.. What's that?" Nami asked as she began to lather the soap in. It was a special shampoo she had bought at the market that made hair softer and shinier, it smelled of strawberries and cream.

"Where did Zoro get that scar on his chest?" Reaka asked as she handed Nami some conditioner.

"Well, Reaka. I.. I was off doing something at the time it happened." Nami said, trying figure out a way to not tell Reaka that she stolen the Merry at that time and ditched the boys.

"But I heard from Usopp what happened. It was when we first met Sanji-kun at the restaurant he was working at, at the time," She continued.

"A man by the name of Hawk-Eyes Mihawk showed up and Zoro challenged him to a dual so that he could see how good his skill was compared to Mihawk's, and Mihawk agreed to it. Needless to say, the fight didn't last long. Zoro, knowing that he had lost and that it would be dishonorable as a swordsman to die by a wound to the back, he opened his front to Mihawk, who landed the last devastating blow that ripped across Zoro's chest. But Mihawk was fond of Zoro's strong will so his last words to Zoro before leaving, was that he openly invited Zoro to surpass him at his highest strength and for Zoro to become the strongest swordsman. So there you have it, that's the story behind the scar that stands as a lasting promise." Nami said, finally finishing the story and slightly out of breath from telling so much at one time. Reaka sat in silent shock, eyes wide and mouth agape, then suddenly blurted out.

"He challenged Mihawk! Was he insane!" Nami simply chuckled at the question as she rinsed Reaka's hair.

"Yup! That's Zoro, not the brightest lanturn on the wall sometimes. But it gave him a good standing point of how far off he was to his dream and promise." She said as she walked over and got two towels, one for Reaka's hair and the other for her body.

"Dream and promise?" Reaka asked, wrapping the towel around herself as Nami let out the water.

"Yup. He's never told us who he promised, all we know is that it was an old friend of his. But becoming the world's strongest swordsman is his dream. You see, to be part of the Straw Hats, Luffy will only truly let people in who have a dream they hold dear and are willing to die for. Such as his is to be pirate king." Nami told her as she fluffed up her orange hair.

"Dreams... It's nice to know people still believe in dreams..." Reaka said softly, a sad smile on her face as she tied the towel around herself.

'I wish I could have a dream... But I won't make it past the Jadefyre islands. Since I was little I've always wanted to find someone nice and caring to marry. But it looks like that will never happen, at this point I won't even be able to see mama and High Cloud again...!' She thought to herself, tears starting to dampen her eyes. Nami turned to her, slightly worried.

"Reaka, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. The steam's just getting to my eyes. By the way, Nami, what's your dream?" Reaka responded as she placed a very real looking fake smile on her face.

"Well, I want to make a map of the whole world. I promised my mom I would before she died and I plan to keep that promise!" Nami said, smiling back.

"Now come on and dry up, we got desserts and cards waiting for us." She cheered as the two of them slipped their clothes on.

~~~~~~~~~~A/N: Aww, poor Reaka! And man, it took forever to summerize what happened between Mihawk (who has the most epic fashion sense evar) and Zoro! *anime fall!* Yeah, this was just one of those lame fillers until we get to the island in front of Jadefyre island! Hope you're enjoying the story. ^^

Gabu/Chopper: GO TO BED!

P.S. I really do use a "Strawberries and Cream" shampoo, it smells really good. I think Zoro's gonna like xP o_o! That might be why I can't get rid of the little bugger!


	8. Murky Horizon

A/N: Hey wadda ya know, it's a "Meet the Villians" chapter. You know kinda like a "Meet the Parents" chapter only more.. well.. Piratey... So Yeah... I'm gonna go now. *runs away!*

Chopper/Gagu: *Facehoof/paw!* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Murky Horizon

~Distant Pirate Ship~

"Vice-Captain! We've taken up a good distance behind the Straw Hats as you requested, sir. We can only be seen by telescope. Anything else requested?" A pirate in a black buccaneer's shirt and baggy brown trousers with a gray sash around his waist asked as he crossed his arms.

"Hehe, no Skrigg. That'll be quite enough, just follow those lads and they'll lead us to the Kin Jewels." Said Vice-Captain Kimph, a man known for his cruelty and the scar on his face that made his lip look like it was constantly curled. Skrigg nodded and turned to leave but was stopped as Vice-Captain Kimph grabbed a handful of his messy brown hair and dragged skrigg back to him.

"Heh ha ha ha! C'mon boy, cheer up! The captain's gonna be the most powerful man on the ocean with those jewels, aren't you proud of your captain?" He mockingly inquired as he pulled Skrigg's hair harder and then pushed him away so hard he hit the cabin door. Skrigg let out a grunt at the impact of hitting the door.

"Of course, sir. I'm trilled!" He said as he painfully stood up straight and opened the door.

"I'll take my leave then, sir." Skrigg told the Vice-Captain as he went through the door. Once outside, he leaned against the wall holding his head as blood gently seeped through his fingers.

"I hate that man so much...!" He whispered to himself.

"Skrigg!" He looked up at the sound of the female voice to see his friend running up to him.

"Skrigg, I brought you your lunch." She said cheerily as her spiky, short, purple hair flopped down onto one side of her face. She also wore baggy trousers and a sash but her's were black, and since her breasts were so small compared to most female pirates she wore a white open-breasted, long-sleeve men's tunic with strings closing it just enough for privacy and a sea blue short-sleeved tunic on top. Nagaru handed him the tray of food, her big rose-colored eyes glistening with joy until she saw the blood dripping down his head.

"Oh no, Skrigg! What happened?" She asked as she licked the corner of her handkerchief and dabbed at the small wound.

"Did Kimph do this again?" She demanded, but Skrigg simply chewed his food and didn't reply. Nagaru looked at him, they had been friends since they were children but when the two of them had kidnapped by these pirates Skrigg had been beaten constantly, always covering up for her and taking the blame. She always hated seeing the scar that ran up his head, parting the left side of his hair. Skrigg finished eating and handed the tray back to her.

"Thank you for the meal, Nagaru." He said with a smile before walking away as Nagaru could only blink and look at him leave.

~Back On The Sunny~

Zoro finished eating and slipped on his shirt.

"I guess I should go see how the rest of the crew is. It's too quiet down there." He said aloud as he started down the rope ladder.

"Hope I don't run into that idiot cook..." Once off the ropes he looked around the deck, he saw Usopp and Luffy fishing but Luffy was asleep holding the pole while Usopp tinkered with one of his gadgets, waiting for the fish. Then on the grass he saw Brook stretched out on his back, Zoro guessed he was asleep too, while at the drink table on the wood deck Chopper and Robin played a board game. But he didn't see Franky, Sanji, Nami or Reaka anywhere.

'I hope Reaka's not mad at me...' He regretfully thought to himself as he combed his fingers through his hair, he sighed and started towards the kitchen. Once he got there he opened the door to a odd string of events. It would seem that Reaka had been in the kitchen for quite some time because the second he opened the door his senses were bombarded with the most arousing sent yet: Lavender and spice mixed with strawberries and cream. The three in the room looked up, Sanji from the dishes he was washing and the girls from their cards and desserts, and saw Zoro standing in the doorway with his hand on the door while his mouth was slightly agape and his eye twitching. Reaka smiled and put her hand in the air.

"Hi Zo-!" She started but was cutoff as Zoro quickly slammed the kitchen door with him on the opposite side as them.

"What was that all about...?" Reaka asked, quite confused but Nami and Sanji were so shocked that they could only shrug in reply. Outside, Zoro stood panting, his back pressed against the door with one hand on his stomach and the other pressed to the wall.

'WHAT THE HECK WAS WITH THAT SENT? And what's wrong with my stomach? Is it from Fulton's Fever again...?' These thoughts franticly raced through his head as his stomach churned and his face went bright red from ear to ear. Unused to the feeling he didn't realize that his body was trying to get a point through his thick skull!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: Awww, poor Zoro. He wouldn't have this problem if he payed a little more attention to girls and a little less to swords. ^^ But, oh well!

Also I am waaaay sorry this one was so short. *sweatdrop* Forgive me! *pleads for life then falls asleep* Zzzzzzzzz...


	9. Revealing Roses

A/N: I don't have alot to say except I'm really tired *is 6:35 AM* and it was really fun to write for Sanji.

Revealing Roses

~Men's Quarters The Next Night~

Zoro rolled over in his cot and groaned, he couldn't get to sleep. He covered his face with his hands and let out a sigh, he couldn't stop thinking about Reaka. Even though he has been avoiding her since the kitchen incident at noon the day before, he could make the thoughts in his head leave.

"Graahh!" He exclaimed as ruffled his hair with hands and hopped out of bed, careful not to wake up the guys in the cots next to his. He felt feverish again and needed some air.

~Sunny's Grass Deck~

Zoro walked out onto the grass deck looked up at the crew's nest, the light was on since Chopper was on watch up there, but the poor little guy was probably asleep by now. Zoro laid down, his back to the grass as he crossed his legs and put his arms behind his head.

'Get a grip, man! This is pathetic! Losing sleep over a girl who's just a friend!...' He yelled at himself mentally. But lying there for about an hour, his head a jumbled mess of different thoughts. Though one kept showing up above all the others.

"...She's just a friend, right...?" He whispered to himself, then groaned and rolled onto his stomach, pressing his face to the grass.

"This really is pathetic...!" He exclaimed, the cool, soft grass relieving his fever a little. Still unable find any real comfort, he let out a sigh and got to his knees.

"Great... Even something as calm as the stars above can't bring me piece..." He said thoughtfully as a cool evening breeze blew by and ruffled his clothing against him. Zoro then got up and moved to yet another part of the ship...

~Aquarium Deck~

Zoro aimless wandering led him to the aquarium deck, where the fish caught that day swam by peacefully.

"Yeah, you jerks get to relax while I'm stuck wandering the ship..." He growled as he glared at them but they paid him no heed and kept swimming peacefully. Zoro gave up and paced around the room, talking to himself about random situations on the same subject.

"I don't get what's going on... I should be asleep right now!" He yelled, completely confused. After what felt like a few minutes he started banging his head against the service elevator that was connected to the kitchen.

"Why... Won't... The... Words..Come...Out! ...What's...Wrong...With...My..Body?" He asked, saying each word forcefully with each bang to the wood, a small stream of blood dripped down his forehead as the result.

"Oi, Oi, Oi! Don't wreck the ship, idiot!" Zoro turned around and saw Sanji standing in the doorway, hands in his pockets and a newly lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.

"What the heck are you doing here, Butterfly Face?" Zoro demanded trying to sound angry but coming off more frustrated and confused, his face red as a multi result of the fever, anger and just plain old embarrassment.

"I was in the kitchen getting ready to make breakfast when I felt you bangin' on the ship." Sanji replied calmly as he released a mouthful of smoke and walked towards Zoro. It would seem that Zoro had been pacing for hours. Sanji stopped about three feet from Zoro.

"Wanna me tell what was so important that you upset the fish?" He inquired, Zoro simply grunted in reply and started to walk towards the door but stopped when Sanji lifted his leg and barred the path.

"Oi, Marimo. You're not gonna calm down and stop wrecking the ship until you get whatever it is off your chest." Sanji told him.

"Sit down and start talking!" He demanded, then thrust his foot into the middle of Zoro's chest, forcing him back so that he was sitting on the bench that followed the wall. Zoro grumbled about the chef under his breath, he knew Sanji wouldn't let him leave and he didn't have his swords to make Sanji let him go.

"So, what's on your mind?" Sanji asked after several minutes of silence, he actually had concern in his voice. Zoro wasn't happy about it but he know Sanji was right, maybe talking to this stupid love cook might.

"Well, it's about Reaka. Lately I haven't been able to get anywhere near her, every time I do I start to feel weird. Like my palms will begin to sweat, my face grows real hot and my stomach feels like it churning. Past couple of times I've tried to talk to her I end up walking away and panting for air, and I can't get to sleep at night. I just keep thinking about her and my body acts all weird, like it's rejecting my commands..." Zoro said slowly, it was bad enough talking about this to someone and now it was even worse since he was talking about it to Sanji of all people. Sanji listened calmly at first but the move he listened the more he found it hard to keep a straight face until he couldn't hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing so hard that his golden bangs dropped over both his eyes and his cigarette nearly fell out of his mouth.

"What's so funny, eyebrow freak?" Zoro demanded, his face going red. Sanji could only swat away the question with one hand as he held his ribs with the other, his heavy laughter sending pain through his ribs, which had gotten weaker since he met the Straw Hats.

"Ha hah ha ha ha! Man Zoro, haha, you...Haha... Really..Haha... Are an idiot...Hahaha!" He exclaimed between laughs.

"What do you mean by that?" Zoro demanded once more, this time slamming his fist into the bench to get his point across.

"Heh ha ha! What I... Ha ha ha.. Am.. Haha.. Trying to say... Haha... Algae head... Haha.. Is that you're... Haha... In love! Hahahaha!" Sanji told him before laughing so hard he fell off the bench. Zoro could only sit there in shock of Sanji's words.

~Sometime After Sanji's Laughing Attack~

Sanji finally stopped laughing and got back on the bench.

"Ok, so we've established that you're in love with our guest. Which means if you don't want to completely ruin this, which I have no doubt you can, you're gonna have to lean a little about women." He said as he fixed his tie.

"First, a woman is like a glass rose."

"You mean see through and annoying?" Zoro asked, completely confused with where Sanji was going with this. Hearing this question made Sanji do a combination of a facepalm and planting his foot in Zoro's face.

"No, moss for brains. I mean they're very beautiful yet delicate! Work with me here, will you?" Sanji corrected Zoro, he then continued on about women and how they should be treated. The conversation continued on for many more hours since Sanji had to keep redirecting Zoro's brain to the right path.

A/N: Poor, poor Zoro...


	10. Lie with Me

A/N: Begining note, I am very sorry that this took so long and is some words are messed up. I have an excuse: It's long, I've been way sick and totally out of it, I sleep for like 15 hours out of the day and go to school and I was almost in a car accident on the way to school today. So please, don't kill me if it totally sucks, I'm too sick to handle it right now...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lie with Me

~Aquarium Deck~

Sanji stood up and straightened out his silk vest, his legs needed to move after sitting and trying to explain so much stuff that he was sure wouldn't stick Zoro's brain.

"Well, I have to go make breakfast before Luffy wakes up and starts yelling. My last piece of advice to you, Moss head. Is that you tell Reaka-chan your feelings, even though I can't see how any lady would fall for an idiot like you, but tell her in a place where it's only you and her. She's a very shy girl and might become overwhelmed, even more so if there's a lot of people close by. A time while training might be a good idea. But you might wanna try and plan ahead of time how you're gonna do it." He told Zoro as he walked towards the door.

"Oi, love cook! Don't you dare tell anyone about this!" Zoro demanded as Sanji lit another cigarette, and then put a hand in the air to signal "okay" and walked out. Zoro leaned his back against the back cushion of the bench and his head on the tank wall, sleep started to over take his senses, the talk with Sanji had confused him.

'Looks like I'll have to find a nice quiet spot to tell Reaka... Maybe after training in the crow's nest...' He thought to himself as slumber drifted upon him.

~A Couple Of Hours Later~

"Zoro, wake up. It's time to eat..." Zoro heard someone talking to him, he yawned and blinked the sleep out of his eyes. He sat up, he had fallen asleep on the bench in the aquarium deck after the conversation, looking next to him he saw Reaka standing there as she held two trays of food. She handed him one and then sat down with the other.

"C'mon, sleepy. It's already lunch time, so eat up otherwise you won't have any energy to train with." Reaka told him as she took a bite of food, Sanji had made everyone beautiful fish with lemon juice on top for lunch that day.

"Oh, I almost forgot! I made you something special!" She exclaimed after a few minutes of quiet eating.

"Ok, close your eyes and open your mouth." Reaka told him as she pulled a small towel off the top of the tiny bowl in the corner of her tray.

"What? I'm not gonna poison you." She said as Zoro gave her a look of mock distrust, but then did as she said.

"Tell me what you think." Reaka ordered as she scooped something out of the bowl with a spoon and into his mouth. Zoro was shocked about what had entered his mouth, it was warm and creamy and felt like rice yet tasted like cinnamon, he actually enjoyed the taste very much.

"Like it?" He heard Reaka ask, making him open his eyes again.

"Yes, but what was that?" He replied with a question of his own, trying to savor the taste.

"It's called Rice Pudding. It's made with rice cooked in a mixture of milk, brown sugar and cinnamon. Here!" She told him as she shut her eyes and smiled, handing him the bowl with the rest of the rice pudding in it. As soon as he took it Reaka opened her eyes, they started to cloud over with sadness and her smile faded.

"Zoro... Are you mad at me...? Have I done something wrong...?" She asked, her eyes starting to dampen. Upon hearing this, Zoro swallowed a mouthful of rice pudding somewhat hard.

"No, you haven't. Why would you ask something like that?" He inquired as he cleared his throat, trying to get the rice pudding to go down the right way.

"Well... For the past couple days you seemed to have been avoiding me, so I was starting to wonder..." Reaka told him softly, her bottom lip starting to quiver. Zoro swallowed hard again, he had been running around the Sunny so much trying to keep himself from feeling weird that he hadn't stopped to think how she must have felt, having her closest friend on that ship run from her. Thinking about a lady's feelings had been one of the first things Sanji had literally beat into him that morning.

"I wasn't mad, I was just busy with things on the ship and I wasn't feeling all that great either. So it wasn't you." He told, trying to make her feel better even though part of what he said was a lie.

"Really...?" Reaka started but then leaned forward and put her to his forehead. "Oh no, you weren't feeling well? Was your fever coming back?" She asked, sounding rather worried about him. "I guess you could say that..." Zoro replied, it was true that he had felt warm but thinking about it, after the talk with Sanji he wasn't so sure it had been Fulton's Fever that had caused the problem.

"Are you feeling well enough to train today?" Reaka asked as she drew back her hand and grabbed her fork again, then took a bite of fish.

"I should. Why?"

"Because Nami said we should hit the next island in about an hour! I've been to this island before on my last trip to Jadefyre, it's called 'Moonlit Shade'. Last time I was here I found this beautiful meadow surrounded by trees that is completely secluded and great for training, plus it has a waterfall and a large pond. Since nobody ever comes to these islands I bet its still peaceful." Reaka exclaimed, as she stood up and picked her tray.

"So, if it's still there would you like to train there? We could get a lot of practice in, since we have to stay at the island about a day for the ship to get used to the water around these islands." She told him as she started to leave.

"Well, I'll be going now. I'll come get you when we land." Zoro watched her go as he fell asleep on the bench again.

~Sunny's Deck~

Reaka looked around as everyone, except Nami and Robin, helped lay anchor and get ready to explore the new island. Reaka was wearing her training cloths but in the saddle bag, that hung close to her hip, she had an extra change of cloths for after training. She was planning to wake up Zoro, but oddly Sanji had gone to do it first. Reaka simply shrugged and started

off the boat.

~Aquarium Deck~

"Oi, Marimo. Wake up, we've landed!" Sanji said as he jabbed the sleeping Zoro in the shoulder with his foot. After a few minutes of this, Zoro rolled over onto his back, then yawned and blinked the sleep from his eyes.

"What do you want...?" He demanded as he groggily half glared, half blinked at Sanji.

"I came to tell you that we've hit land. This island's a great place for telling Reaka. So hop to it!" Sanji told him, then while yelling the last part he kicked Zoro off the bench and out the door.

"Stupid swordsman..." He said slowly as he exhaled some smoke.

~Outside The Door~

Zoro landed outside the door on his face.

"Stupid, love cook! But he's right, this island is perfect. Reaka wanted to train at that meadow, I could tell her afterwards, so that way I'll be too tired to care or not if she rejects me." He grumbled as he got up and started towards the men's quarters to get his swords.

~Shore Line~

"Oi, Reaka. You ready to train?" Zoro asked as he walked up to her, she was playing with a crab she had found on the sand.

"Yup!" She exclaimed as she looked up at him and smiled.

"Come, it's this way." Reaka told him as she took his hand and lead him to the trees.

"And just where do they think they're going, we got a lot of work to do!" Nami grumbled and frowned as she watched them leave.

"Don't worry, Nami-san. They're off to go train and that idiot swordsman had something to talk to her about, he better not screw it up..."

~Secret Meadow~

Reaka guided Zoro through the forest until there was a break in the wall of trees. Walking past the last few trees and out into a beautiful meadow. On three sides it was surrounded by the tall pine trees, while at the forth side there was a large waterfall and crystal clear pond. The meadow itself was made of multi-colored wildflowers and grass that stood about four inches high. "Wow...! It's even more beautiful than I remember!" Reaka exclaimed. "Yeah..." Zoro whispered in awe at the meadow's beauty. "So then, shall we?" Reaka asked as she pulled forth her cutlass.

~Twilight~

It was now several hours later, for they had trained for so long that the sun had gone down and the Twilight had overtaken its place. Both Zoro and Reaka sat in the tall grass panting, their swords laying next to them.

"Well... *pant* I guess *gasp* we should go *pant* clean off. No sense *gasp* staying all *pant* sweaty, now is there." Reaka panted as she collapsed backwards and lay on her back.

"Yeah... Let's go" Zoro replied as he stood up and walked over to her, offering his hand to her. Reaka took it and he pulled her to her feet.

"Man, I'm tired. I could fall asleep in this meadow and not care right now." Reaka laughed as they walked to the pond to wash off. Once at the pond, they went separate sides to wash and get dressed.

'Ok, we're here, we've trained and now we're clean. But how the heck am I supposed to tell her...?' These thoughts drifted through Zoro's mind as he ruffled the water from his hair with his fingers. While his mind ran several ideas past him and out the other side of his head, Reaka was on her side of the pond humming an old Mexican lullaby to herself.

"Well, that was a great workout. It's too bad I won't get another chance to do it again." She said softly as she squeezed the water out of her long hair, but too cheery to make herself get depressed.

"I better get changed." She said as she walked behind a small rock wall and started to slip out of her wet cloths, it was somewhat hard because the water had made her already form-fitting cloths even tighter.

"Finally!" She sighed as she finally got her cloths off and slipped into some dry under garments, as soon as they were on she wrapped her short komono around herself and tied it. Reaka then gathered up her stuff and walked out to the meadow where she saw Zoro sitting on the bluish-gray stones that made a short wall around the pond, he seemed to be thinking about something.

"Hey, you ready to go back now?" Reaka asked as walked over and stood next to him. Zoro looked up at her and frowned.

"Awww... the heck with it! I can't think of anything..." He said as he stood up. Then all of a sudden he wrapped one arm under her arms and around her, pulled her up so that only her toes were touching the grass, luckily her "short komono" was rather long on her because when he lifted her up it also came up about two inches. Zoro placed his other hand in her hair, behind her head, closed his eyes and pressing his lips to her's in a passionate kiss. Reaka's face went bright red, but she was too shocked to do anything but be held there in his arms.

"Reaka, as strange as this for me to say. I love you. I guess the feeling has just been waiting in since I first smelled you, on that night I woke up from the Fulton's Fever." Zoro told her softly, not opening his eyes but simply placing his nose against her neck and opened his mouth to breath in her lovely sent.

'Love...? Me...? Couldn't be... Wait! Did he say smelled...? Oh no! Could it be...?' These thoughts raced through Reaka's head as Zoro's words tried to register in her brain.

"Wait? When you first smelled me? Could that mean that you can...?" Her voice trailed off but Zoro finished for her.

"Yes, I'm the one who can smell the 'Flower's Sent'." He told her, still breathing in her sent of lavender and spice.

'No!' Reaka thought to herself as hot tears flooded her eyes and made their way down her reddened cheeks. Zoro felt the tear as it dripped onto his face.

"Reaka, what's wrong? Are you unhappy that I love you?" He asked as he brought his face up to look at her. Reaka could only shake her head to answer, the upcoming sobs cutting off her ability to talk.

"Then what's wrong?" Zoro asked as he lowered her to her feet and wiped away some of the tears with his hand.

"I'm not *sob* unhappy that *sob* you love *sob* me... I mean *sob* I'm overjo- *sob* -oyed at that. *sob* Because I- *sob* I love *sob* you too but *sob* I wish *sob* that you weren't *sob* the one who coul- *sob* -d smell the 'Flower's *sob* Sent' because *sob* almost everyone that *sob* could for past Magma~Jade *sob* holders *sob* died and I *sob* don't want that to *sob* happen to you...!" Reaka choked, as she fell to knees, a cool breeze making the grass brush against her skin. Zoro was relieved that she loved him back, but was upset because now she was really sobbing. He dropped to his knees too and pulled her into an embrace.

"Reaka, listen to me. I'm gonna be the world's greatest swordsman and serve under the pirate king, and no magic jewel is gonna crush me or that dream. So don't worry about it, everything's gonna turn out fine. We might hit a few walls here and there, but you and I can just slice through them together!" He told her as he wiped away the rest of the tears. Reaka's mind opened its door and let his words in, calming her down a bit at a time.

"But we'll deal with that when the time comes, but as for right now let's enjoy the twilight and this beautiful meadow you've found." Zoro told her as he laid down on the grass, with Reaka still in his arms. He released her and she rolled off of him, she then laid own with her head next to his and their bodies about a foot away from each other. At this point they started to about things they enjoyed to calm down and just enjoy the lovely night. After about twenty minutes Zoro fell asleep, still exhausted from lack of sleep. Reaka lay on her back as she watched the beautiful moon and stars float peacefully in the twilight sky, suddenly she felt movement next to her. Zoro had rolled over, his arm wrapped around her waist and his nose was pressed against her neck once more, his body still attracted to her sent had moved itself even though he was asleep. Reaka continued to watch the stars as she too drifted off to sleep, her body now warmed and comforted by his...

A/N: Hi I'm back and sooo not ready for action. I am really, really sorry if this totally sucked. I don't usually write this kind of stuff so it probably turned out horrible. The only help I had to write this were these four songs because my brain is pretty much dead on relationships of this kind *has never had a boyfriend...!*. Songs: Moonlight Shadow, Chasing Cars, Key of Twilight and Everytime We Touch. And now I'm gonna go back to sleep, G'knight everyone and hope you liked it...


	11. Is thy love a lie?

A/N: Guys, I am soooo sorry I haven't updated. I had this stupid Country report due so I was working on that and then when I started working on this chapter my computer erased everything about this story so I had to get the whole thing off here again and start chapter 11 over. It really sucked.

Gabu: Grah Grulrha nruff!

Chopper: He says it's true and we're very sorry. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Is Thy Love A Lie?

~Secret Meadow~

Zoro slowly drifted awake as he felt a warm, rhythmic rise and fall beneath his head. His eyes still closed; his mind drifting but gathering no recollection of what had happened the night before. Zoro could feel that his hand lay against something soft and warm; his eyes now starting to open to see where he was. He was beyond shocked to find that his body was pressed close to Reaka's; his head on her chest and his hand laying on her thigh. With this he sat bolt upright. 'What was that!' He mentally asked him when suddenly the events of the night before rolled.

'I see... Man, hope nothing happened while I was asleep!' Zoro thought franticly.

"Yhaaaa...!" He heard Reaka yawn as she slowly awakened and sat up next to him.

"Hi, Zoro. Sleep well?" She asked him, eyes closed and a smile on her face.

"Yeah, but I think we should head back to the ship. Otherwise questions might come up about where we were all night." He responded, feeling nervous sweat drip down his back. Reaka yawned again and stretched her arms.

"You're right, let's go shall we?"

~The Thousand Sunny~

Once they boarded the ship they went their separate ways; Reaka heading to her quarters and Zoro to the kitchen to get a drink. He turned the knob on the door and walked in.

"So... where were you two all night?" Zoro heard someone ask him and turned towards the counter to see Sanji leaning against it; cigarette in mouth and a simple glass goblet filled with red wine in his hand.

"Out. What're you doin' up, love cook." Zoro answered with a question as he walked over to grab some sake.

"I always wake up early in order to get things ready for breakfast. No sense making everyone wait and having Luffy start yelling." Sanji told him as he took a sip of wine, and then finally facing Zoro he asked.

"So, did you tell her of your feelings?" Zoro leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the table.

"I told her after we trained for a few hours. It went pretty well; she told me she loved me back then after talking for a while we fell asleep." He explained, making Sanji raise his eyebrow and gave Zoro a concerned look.

"Not together, idiot!" Zoro nervously yelled as he saw the look in Sanji's eye and glared back then thought to himself.

'Well... We really didn't, we simply woke up together...' Sanji simply exhaled some smoke.

"As long as nothing happened. But anyways, you might want to go to an actual bed. Nami-san said once we leave it will only take a few hours until we reach Reaka's island." Sanji told him as he took the last sip of wine from the goblet, then turned around to start the stove. Zoro got up and started towards the door now that his drink was finished and Sanji was done talking. He opened the door and walked outside.

"*sigh* Just a few hours between now and when I might have to risk everything to save the girl I love from a painful death." Zoro said aloud as he walked towards the men's quarters.

"Grahh! Love is such a pain! I shouldn't have to worry about things like this...!" He grumbled as he ruffled his green hair with his fingers.

~Near Noon~

Nami stood atop the wood deck of the Sunny; stretching her arms and breathing in the salty breeze as the ship sailed towards Jade~Fyre island.

"Nami!" Hearing her name being called, she turned around to Reaka running towards her.

"hiya, Reaka. What's up?" Reaka smiled and caught her breath then responded to Nami.

"Oh, nothing much. Um, do you have an idea of when we might hit the island?" she asked innocently.

"Yeah, if the wind stays this good, I would say about two hours." Nami told her.

"Great, thanks. Oh hey, I gotta go see Chopper. Later." Reaka said cheerily and started towards Chopper's doctor's quarters.

'*sigh* That gives me just enough time to get that poison done. *sigh* I will miss such nice, caring people. But mostly you, Zoro...!' She sadly thought as she plastered a fake smile on her face.

~Doctor's Quarters~

Reaka opened the door to see Chopper having a great time spinning on his swivel chair.

"Wheeeeeeee! Oh... Hi, Reaka. Is there something I can help you with?" He asked as he stopped spinning and held onto the back of the chair with his little hooves. Reaka nodded.

"Yup. Chopper, I thought up this great idea for a sleeping poison. It doesn't really poison, it just puts people to sleep for a while, I thought it would be good for the boy's weapons. Wanna help me make it?" She asked him sweetly. Chopper quickly nodded.

"Sure, anything, Reaka." He told her, his fuzzy little ears twitching. Reaka smiled.

'Perfect! It should take about two hours to prepare...!' She thought to herself as they started their work.

~2 PM, Jade~Fyre Island~

All the Straw Hats sat around the table.

"I say we start this party honoring our arrival at this special island!" Nami announced to the crew as Sanji walked back to the kitchen after putting food on the table.

"Sanji, would you mind if I made the drinks?" Reaka asked him sweetly as she fluttered her eyelashes. Even though he knew she belonged to Zoro he couldn't help his heart leaping at the sight of her.

"Hai, Reaka-cwaaann!" He said, showing her the drinks and then went to go sit down as she had asked.

'Ok, Reaka. This is the only way, plus, even Zoro won't be able to taste this...' She thought to herself as she pulled a small vial out of her sleeve and poured the clear liquid into each of the barrel mugs, mixing it with the drinks.

"Shall we have a toast?" Reaka asked as she passed out the drink and took a mug for herself.

"To adventure and Jade~Fyre island!"

"Kanpai!" Everyone yelled, raising their drinks then taking a long gulp, except Reaka. Who simply stood there, the smile fading from her face as she laid her mug down.

"Sorry, everyone..." She said as everyone suddenly collapsed on the table, asleep, except for Zoro who was barely still awake.

"What did you do...?" He asked her groggily. "Stopping the Straw Hats and the man I love from getting hurt..." Reaka told Zoro, who had now also collapsed.

"Take care of everyone, please..." She said as she gently lifted his head and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"This is goodbye, Zoro. Fulfill your dreams." She whispered to the now sleeping Zoro as she softly removed one of the three earrings in his ear and placed it in hers then walked towards the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/N: Yeah, sorry it sucked so bad. This was simply one of those "kicking off the next part" chapters. So yeah, sorry. Hope next one's better.


	12. The Jade Dragoness

A/N: Short, sweet and to the point!

Gabu/Chopper: No it's not!~~~~~~~

The Jade Dragoness

~Jade~Fyre Temple~

Reaka sighed as she walked down the halls of the giant stone temple built into the side of Jade~Fyre's main mountain; large crystals within its walls gave off an eerie teal glow.

"*sniffle* I miss you, mama and High Cloud. But if this jewel were to be released unto the know world there would be great havoc." She said softly as she walked down to the last bit of the corridor and found a large room with a statue of the Magma~Jade by the far wall. She walked over to a small stone ledge next to fountain.

"Glad no one's here to see me." Reaka said aloud, blushing as she started to remove all her cloths and laid them on the ledge. She then walked over to the statue and placed her palms against it; a ribbon a green and red light wrapped itself tightly against her, making her gasp, it feeling as if it were solid.

~Vice-Captain Kimph's Ship~

Vice-Captain Kimph looked through the spyglass and spotted the Sunny.

"Perfect, the girl has left all by herself. She'll be easy prey to capture, then I'll use her power to rule the seas and get every treasure the captain and I ever wanted!" He boasted to himself aloud as Skrigg glared at him in disgust.

"That dirty old man, I wonder what he really has planned for that nice girl...?" Skrigg grumbled as he kept glaring while stacking barrels with Nagaru.

"I don't know, I don't like it...!" Nagaru started,

"That bilge has tried to come on to me, and my chest is as flat a board! Imagine what he'll do to her...!" She growled, making Skrigg shudder in response.

"I really rather not, Gar."

~Thousand Sunny~

Chopper was the first to awaken with the other Straw Hats following suit.

"Oooowwww!" He whimpered as he held his hooves to his head; then gasped as he opened his eyes and looked down at the table in front of him, there stood the empty vial to the poison he and Reaka made that morning.

"Ho man, what hit me? My head's killin' me!" Franky started to grumble and Chopper could hear the others come around, each groaning at their headaches from the drugging.

"Oh no!" He exclaimed, making Robin turn towards him.

"What's wrong, Doctor-san?" Chopper held up the vial.

"I think Reaka drugged us with the mix she and I made this morning!" Everyone looked at him quizzically, then Sanji asked.

"Chopper, just what is the problem with that?" Chopper kept looking trough the vial.

"Well the way we made is was that for several hours after waking up, the drugged person's body would not reacted as swiftly as needed in stressful situations, such as battles." Upon hearing these words Zoro swallowed hard.

'Great... It's gonna be a pain getting through to her with these effects.' He thought to himself as he started towards the door. Suddenly Sanji stood up.

"Stop right there, stupid swordsman! Just what's going on after what happened last night? Why did Reaka turn on us? Most of all, you!" The demand sounding in his yell as he glared at Zoro, thoroughly confuse and upset.

"Shut up, love cook! It's none of your business! This was her choice." Zoro growled back as he continued towards the door when suddenly some of Robins hands appeared out of the wood planks; grabbing his legs and another on his left shoulder and gently gripped his ear.

"Swordsman-san, it would seem that one of your earrings is missing and that you are the only one who knows anything about whats happening. Would you mind enlightening us?" Robin asked kindly. Zoro looked behind himself at the other Straw Hats, all confused and a little frustrated at the situation. Zoro let out an angered sigh.

'I just tell them, that way it'll take less time to save Reaka.' "Fine...!" He grumbled as Robin let go of him and he walked back to them.

"Reaka is actually what is called the 'Holder of the Magma~Jade', a powerful jewel that resides within her body. That is why she wanted to come to this island, it is the only place to safely release the jewel for here it'll come threw her body naturally. Otherwise the jewel would turn her against the whole world and have her wreck horrible damage upon it before killing herself. While at this island the jewel will still do the same thing to her; but she will not damage the world and there is a chance to save her. The one who can smell the 'Flower's Sent' is the only one who can save her; strangely that person was me. That's what's happening now." Zoro stared at them through bored looking eyes; his nakama's mouth agape with shock, the most belonging to Robin. Robin quickly stood up.

"Everyone, I have read about the trial of the Magma~Jade. We must hurry, there isn't much time to save Reaka-san." She told them then motioned for them to follow her outside. Once outside they all ran to the latter just when Nami suddenly stopped them.

"Wait a sec! We don't even know where she is or anything about this island. We could get lost before we even get close to finding her!" She exclaim to the crew as Zoro closed his eyes and breathed in the soft breeze.

'I can smell her, even from here! I know where she is!' He thought to himself.

"Everyone follow me, I know where she is!" He told then and Nami simply responded.

"Zoro, you can't tell left from right. I highly doubt you know the way!"

"Fine, then don't follow! I'll save her on my own!"

"Grahh! Ok, fine! Let's go!" Nami finally growled as they all set off to find Reaka.

~Jade~Fyre Temple~

Zoro nose had proven right! They had found the temple and were now running down the corridor to the room with the statue. Upon entering the room they stopped dead in their tracks for the had seen Reaka. She was hovering in the air by wings of jade and fire and a tail made of flexible jade; she had jade armor on her main body with her arms, legs, shoulders, neck and head bare while the jade armor on her hands and feet resembled foot-long claws.

"Reaka!" Zoro exclaimed in a shock filled voice.

"Time to die fools!" Reaka yelled in a voice that sounded like three put together, her hair a float, as if being blown by the wind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: I don't know I'm tired...!


	13. What Resides Within The Jewel!

A/N: Ahoy, one and all! First things first, me hearties. Thanks ya'll fer the favs and comments, ye all be great and let no man call ye bilge. Fer it be a wronging to do such scurvy things to such great readers. Carry on with yer travels now, me mates!

Gabu: Grahht ghrin ghru...

Chopper: You're right, she's lost it... ~~~~~~~~

What Resides Within The Jewel!

~Jade~Fyre Temple~

The Straw Hats stared in shock and horror of what was before them; the sweet and beautiful Reaka, now bent on killing them.

"It would seem this is what Margalla was talking about..." Zoro stated as he gritted his teeth. As the others started to talk and think about what to do; a sent drifted by Chopper's nose as his ears began to twitch. He gently tugged on Robin's skirt.

"What's the matter, Doctor-san?"

"Robin, I smell people coming. I think they're other pirates!" He quietly told her as she took his hoof with her hand, then knelled down.

"Are you sure?" Chopper quickly nodded.

"But, Robin. I thought no one was supposed to know about this island...!" He whimpered softly.

"Hey, what's going down?" Came Franky's voice as he knelled next to them.

"I smell pirates, I think they might be after Reaka." Chopper told him as he fixed a loose strap on his backpack.

"That's not cool. We better tell the others so some of us can keep them at bay while the rest get through to Reaka." Franky replied as he stood up and brought Robin to her feet.

"Everyone, we got a super problem! Other pirates are coming and Reindeer-gorilla thinks they might be after Reaka." Franky explained to the crew, the words making Zoro growl slightly with anger.

"Ok, crew! Here's how it's gonna go down; Zoro, Robin and Usopp you go after Reaka and try to change her back while the rest of us can go and get rip of those pirates!" Nami instructed, taking charge with her hands on her hips.

"Now, move out!" She demand as the two groups split but were still near each other as they ran towards Reaka. A few seconds later Robin stopped Zoro and handed him a small cloth sheet.

"Robin, what's this for?"

"Well, swordsman-san. From what I have read in ancient books; the only way to release the Magma~Jade from it's holder is to fill the rose-shaped area on the chest of their armor." Robin started but Zoro cut her off.

"Just how do I do that and I still don't get what the cloth's for." He told as she simply chuckled.

"You see; the rose on her chest represents the Magma~Jade and can only be broken by fill the rose to the top with her equals blood. I'm guessing that would be you, Swordsman-san. Now to the sheet; one the armor shatters, Reaka-san will be wearing nothing. This soft cloth is to wrap her in." Robin told him, a gentle smile covering her face as a wave of red shot across his. With this Robin ran after the others with Zoro close behind her. Suddenly Reaka screeched, making the whole crew stop dead in their tracks; Chopper even had to cover his little ears.

"Come forth, creatures of the Kin Jewel! Lend me your power: Chupacabra, haron, kraken and cockitrice!" She yelled, a giant haron and the three mythical beats appeared; each twelve-feet-tall and made of flexible jade, magma flowing threw them as a life force. Every Straw Hat stared wide eyed at the sight of the beasts.

"Wow! Awesome!" Luffy suddenly burst out in amazement, earning him a fist to the back of the head by Nami as she informed them.

"Ok... New plan! Zoro, you go after Reaka while the rest of us try to get rid of these THINGS and those bloody pirates!"

"Ok, everyone stay on your guards. Reaka doesn't look like she's play games." Zoro told them as he tied his bandana on and pulled out all three swords.

'I don't want to have to do this, Reaka. But I know that with my body acting up the way it is, I'm gonna have to go all out to get anywhere near breaking that armor.' He thought to himself as he started towards her as the rest of the Straw Hats split into three groups to take out the monsters and pirates: Luffy, Sanji and Brook in one, Robin, Franky and Chopper in the next, while Nami and Usopp made up the last.

"Let's go!" They could all hear Luffy stream as they all rushed into battle!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: Ok, enough with the lousy pirate talk. But I really do want to thank you all for comin' on this horribley writen adventure with me. It means alot to me since I never really thought this would be such a big hit with you fellow fanfic lovers, so a deep, heart-felt thank you to you all.

P.S. Please forgive me! I am not good at staying in character, so I know that takes alot away from this story. So please bare with me until I finish this pathetic thing. Also I sorry this chapter and the last one was so short, but I've been working on art commissions for the kids at school plus I gotta study for two really hard tests that are on tuesday and a ton of other homework. But I promiss to actually get to the fighting in the next chapter, so please hold on a little longer ok? If you find the time (no presure though!) to leave feedback that would be great otherwise I get doubtful about the story and want to stop writing it. So more likely than not, you comments will keep it going and I'm gonna try and write chapters between studying for the tests. So wish me luck.

P. P.S. Really! Please forgive me for making Zoro so out of character!


	14. Love Is Worth Fighting For!

A/N: Ok, yeah. Another super short, super sucky chapter, really sorry. This was more of a test page to see if I can write action scenes so I really need feedback about this one, because this is the first action scene I'v ever writen so I'm really sorry if sucks.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Love Is Worth Fighting For!

~Jade~Fyre Temple~

Zoro rushed forward as he saw his nakama fighting the giant monsters to keep them at bay while he tried to get threw to Reaka.

'All I gotta do is break her armor and she'll be free, but I get the feeling that armor is stronger than normal jade. Which means I won't be able to slice threw as easily as usual...' He started to think to himself but his thoughts were cut off by Reaka's voice.

"So... You want to play, eh? Well, let's! Jaded Hedgehogs!" She yelled at him as hurled two jade orbs covered in spines towards him; they landed about a foot away from him and exploded on contact with ground, shooting the spines out in all directions and taking Zoro by surprise. Who managed to block or cut most with his swords but a few still managing to get threw and pierce his flesh.

"Ack!" Zoro gasped as the tiny spines hit him. Reaka took this moment of Zoro trying to rip the barbed spines from himself to attack; but luckily he saw her coming and countered her oncoming claws by swinging his swords forwards and knocking Reaka back. Who quickly caught balance in the air with her wings and then grabbed Zoro's leg and yanked with her tail; pulling him off balance then batting him with her wings as she ripped at him with her claws. Zoro managed to block both wings and her left hand of claws; but her right claws getting past his guard and stabbing threw his haramaki into his abdomen, luckily not hitting his vital organs but still causing a deep wound.

'Ghahh! Great...! I think the poison and the fever are starting to kick in; my guts feel like they're on fire, I can't breath right and this new wound isn't helping!' Zoro franticly thought to himself as his face started to turn red from the fever and he began to hastily gasp for air. His performance began to deteriorate and he found it harder to keep up with her constant bashing and ripping as he went on.

~Robin's Team~

"Cien Fleur!" Robin shouted as a hundred hands sprouted from the ground grasped the on land Kraken's tentacles as best they could while Chopper and Franky battered at its jade flesh.

"Strong Right! Heavy Gong!" Franky and Chopper each yelled their attack as they both slammed their fists into the same spot on the Kracken, trying to break its jade flesh and let forth the life giving magma while Robin struggled to hold it down. But sweat quickly started to drip down Robin's face and back as she found it hard to maintain this attack for long periods of time.

"Shipwright-san, Doctor-san, I'm not sure I hold him for much longer." Robin gasped as she saw her teammates finally make the tiniest of cracks on the creature's surface.

~Luffy's Team~

"Bazooka!" Luffy yelled as he slammed his palms into the jade Chupacabra's leg while Sanji and Brook delivered a series of kicks and slashes to it at other sides. They had been attacking it for some time now but with little effect; it didn't help that their formations were constantly being broken up the creature whipping its claws about.

"Watch out!" He heard Brook yell as the Chupacabra's tail slammed down to the ground, nearly hitting Luffy and making chunks of rock fly everywhere. While suddenly, the heron flapped it's wings; making large, razor-sharp feathers fly towards them. Each exploding into tiny barbed spines much like the Jaded Hedgehogs, only in larger portions.

"Everyone look out! Those things send out spi- ghahh!" Sanji started, but was quickly cut off as the Chupacabra slammed its large hand-like claws into Sanji's ribs, slamming him against the stone wall of the temple. Upon impact with the wall, Sanji could hear the all too familiar and sickening crunch of his ribs cracking.

~Nami's Team~

Nami and Usopp dodged to separate sides as the giant heron slammed its beak into the ground, trying to spear them as a real heron would do fish.

'This bird mean business! Gotta break it down, but how?' Nami thought to herself as she slowly and painfully picked herself up. But while doing so she didn't notice that the bird was sending out its feathers again.

"Nami, look out!" Usopp yelled, pushing her out of the way as the feathers exploded; the spines flying everywhere with two of the largest ones hitting him, the first one grazing his arm while the second buried itself in his side.

"Achk! Ouch!" Nami heard his cries of pain and looked up, Usopp was holding the wound on his arm and Nami could see the white sash around his waist start to turn red.

"Usopp, are you ok?"

"No, ouch, but we gotta stop that bird. It's the least, ouch, we can do for the others" Nami knew he was right, she got to her feet and then helped him up.

"Ok, Usopp. Let's go, Saikuron = Tempo!" She yelled as she snapped two pieces of her climatact together and hurled it at the haron's left leg. While she was doing this Usopp pulled back the string on the Kabuto, he could see the bird start another wing attack but aimed for the left leg like Nami did.

"Kayaku Boshi!" At this point Usopp didn't wait to see if his or Nami's attacks hit, he simply grabbed her by the wrist and ran as fast as he could for cover to avoid the wing attack.

~Zoro's Battle~

Zoro was trying to catch his breath as Reaka, who had been blown back Zoro's attacks, was flying threw the air towards him. Zoro drew in a deep breath, trying to calm his body as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, he could see Reaka out stretch her jade claws.

"Oni..."

"Molten..."

They each started their attacks, then rushing forwards they finished.

"...Giri!"

"...Ripper!"

~~~~~~~~~~~A/N: Woah, look! We're actually getting to see what's happening to the other members of the crew! Poor guys, that poison's really getting to them huh? Well hope you liked it but I gotta go to bed now. Laters!

P.S. Once again, really sorry about the out of characterness!


	15. To Finish and To Begin Anew

A/N: First off, I am sooooooo sorry I haven't updated lately. But I've been so busy, plus I'm sick and I have no internet (is using cousin's). So I'm very sorry, I hope this makes up for it!~~~~~~~

To Finish and To Begin Anew

~Zoro's Battle~

The clash of both their attacks making contact with each other sent out a huge gale of wind as the two of locked claws with swords. Zoro let out a low growl, Reaka, who was hissing at him, had counteracted his attack.

"Heh...!" Reaka let out a small, mocking laugh. Zoro suddenly realized what she was laughing about, her 'Molten Ripper' attack had heated her claws to an extream heat and they were starting to turn his swords red. He quickly pushed her away and disconnected his swords from her claws, for if he had let them stay connected they would have gotten so hot that they would have turned to slag.

'That was close! Any longer and she would have smelted my blades. I have to be careful with her power over heat.' He started to think when all of a sudden he noticed that Reaka wasn't attacking but was licking her long, jade claws.

'What is she doing...?' Then it hit him as he looked closer. She had tiny fractures in her claws, made from clashing with his swords, and as she licked them they started to revert back to normal.

'Have to stop her!' He thought to himself, but as he tried to step forward he was met with a giant shockwave of pain from the wound in his side. It had ripped deeper and more open when he had done 'Oni Giri', making blood leak out from under his haramaki and over his green tinted, black pants. Zoro grunted, this new pain mixed with the side effects of the fever and drug, making his limbs start to go numb, were really doing a number on his fighting style and chances of winning. 'There's still a chance to stop her from healing completely, but I can barely move.' Thoughts raced through his head as he mustered up enough energy to do one more attack in order to stop her and buy him enough time to recover as much as he possibely could. Hold his swords up to one side.

"Tatsu Maki!" Zoro yelled as he swung them forward as hard as he could, causing him to spin in a circle. The giant cyclone of wind hit Reaka, taking her towards the cave roof as the blade-like gale ripped at her armor. But the cyclone had knocked the wind out of Zoro, who was now struggling to stay on his feet as he caughed up mouthfuls of bloody vomit. '

These side effects are really starting to tick me off!' Zoro thought as he gritted his teeth against his sword and blood began to ooze out the sides of his mouth. His lungs felt crushed and didn't want to gather air; making Zoro, who was now slumped over and gasping for breath, want to collapse. Looking up, he saw Reaka; she had finally recovered from his attack, but her armor was starting to give. The jade claws on her feet were almost completely gone; plus her claws, wings and tail were deeply fractured. Reaka let out an earspliting screech.

"Magma Fissure!" She yelled and the floor beneath their feet started to crack as molten rock spilled out. Forcing his aching body, Zoro managed to roll out of the fissure's way to safety. But while doing this, he almost missed seeing Reaka fly through the air to the next room. Letting out a moan, Zoro found the strength to put his swords away and take off after her.

~Luffy's Team~

The three of them were still going at the Chupacabra. Each using power attacks; they were finally starting to crack it, which was good since Luffy didn't want to have to go into 'Second Gear'.

"Anti-manner kick course!" Sanji called as he delivered a hard kick to the beast's huge leg. Unfortunately, the jolt from the kick's massive power made a shockwave of agony rip through his fractured ribs. Sanji gasped for air and wrapped his arms around his ribs. Being forced to take that tiny break from the battle he caught sight of Reaka and Zoro heading to the next room with the Cockitrice following quickly behind them. Taking a large gasp of breath he called out.

"Usopp! Get that idiot bird's attention!" Seeing Usopp nod and get the Kabuto ready, Sanji collapsed to one knee and breathed heavily as he tried to ease the pain.

~Nami's Team~

Hearing the call, Usopp looked out from behind the rock where he and Nami were throwing attacks at the heron. He nodded to show that he understood the blonde cook's order as he readied the Kabuto.

"Saikuron=Tempo!" It was Nami, she had let off an attack to get the heron's mind off of Usopp.

"Hi no Tori Boshi!" Usopp yelled as he released Kabuto's trigger and let forth a giant, flamming bird that hit the Cockitrice in the back of the head, getting its attention.

~Zoro's Battle~

Zoro stopped to gasp for air and saw Reaka land on a large, flat alter.

'Now's my only chance... I have to let that flower fill with blood...!' Thought to himself as he rubbed his neck.

~Flashback From Earlier That Day~

"And just how am I supposed to get my blood to that flower on her chest...?" Zoro inquired, this whole thing was starting to put him in a bad mood. Robin simply gave a sweet smile.

"Once all the armor, but the pieces that cover her main body, is off. Reaka-san will grow hollow, jade fangs as he last line of defense. This will be how she's draw your blood; all you have to do is agrivate her enough so that she'll bite you."

"Well, that doesn't sound to hard." Zoro grumbled back.

"Well, it shouldn't be. But beware, Swordsman-san. The total amount of blood taken will be replaced by the same of a paralizing venom." She told him, a worried look on her face.

~Zoro's Battle~

Pulling his swords out again, Zoro called out to Reaka.

"Reaka, give up and come over here!" Only saying this for the shear fact that his body really didn't wanna walk all the way over to her.

"It should be you who gives up mortal! I grow tired of annoying resistance." Reaka yelled as stood up on the alter.

"Yeah, me too...!" Zoro grumbled back as he started to slowly walk towards her.

"Not so fast!" He heard her yell again.

"Fast? I'm going about as fast as cold molasses going uphill!" Zoro commented back to her. His statement being rather true; his body went forward at barely at all.

"Barrier of the Elememts!" Reaka yelled, and then several walls of molten rock poured from the ground and solidified, creating a hard barrier between them to allow Reaka to heal. Zoro sighed.

"Reaka... I really didn't want to do this..." He told her, then with Wadou Ichimonji in his mouth, Zoro held his other two swords above his right shoulder and sliced downward, sending three cutting waves that ripped through the walls and slashed in Reaka. Reaka was hit so hard she slammed in to the wall, her armor finally cracking all the way and falling to the ground as she slid down the wall. Zoro felt terrible for doing that to her but now he had his own problem. The pain from his organs felt like it was gonna kill him as blood rose to his mouth and made cough it up, for it was far too much to swallow back down. Zoro put his blades away once more and headed for Reaka. Once he finally got her, Reaka was already back to her feet. She was cut and bruised; but the armor on her hands and feet along with the wings and tail, were all gone and Zoro could see her jade fangs.

"Well, it looks like I win..!" Zoro smirked, trying to provoke her.

"Not on your life! I still have a trick." She shouted back. His plan had worked. Reaka was so angry that she lept at him and wrapped herself around him, piercing her fangs into him. Zoro gasped as he felt Reaka start to replace the blood she was removing with her venom. The horrid liquid burned like acid as it rapidly seaped through his veins. Suddenly, Zoro felt a wave of heat pass over him, the jewel full. Reaka swiftly let go of him and pulled her fangs from his flesh. She started to scream as she pawed at the flower on her, and her eyes grew wide while the rose started to crack her armor. Zoro saw her grow tired, then closed his eyes as her armor started fall off. Using the sheet Robin had given him, Zoro caught the collapsing Reaka in his arms and covered her.

"Uuuuuuuugh...! My head..!" Reaka moaned in her normal voice and Zoro opened hiseyes.

"Glad to see that your back to normal." He commented and Reaka looked up at him with a worried look on her face.

"Zoro! What're you doing here! What's with all the blood!" She exclaimed in horror as she looked at the streams of blood coming out of his mouth and all over his normally white shirt.

"Nothing I couldn't handle..." Zoro groaned before falling to one knee, still holding Reaka in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tenderly before realizing something was her neck.

"What's that?" Zoro asked her. Reaka found that their was a thin gold chain around her neck and at its end was the Magma~Jade, pulsing a warming heat against her breasts. Pulling it out of the sheet so that Zoro could see.

"*gasp* Its the Magma~Jade!" She exclaimed happily as she pulled chain from around her neck. Zoro smiled and nodded to her before he fell to his other knee and gasped for air.

"Zoro!" Reaka yelped in terror as she rolled out of his arms and he braced his hands against the floor still gasping for air.

"Oh, Zoro! I told you not to come! Why did you?" Reaka whimpered. Zoro gave her a smirk.

"Can't let the love of my life slip through my fingers." Her told her slowly. Reaka smiled back.

"Thank you." She told him and then gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Also, I want you to have this. Its very special to me." She continued and slipped the Magma~Jade into his haramaki and gave him another kiss. They smiled at each before the last three things happened before Zoro passed: a smoke bomb went off covering the whole room in smoke, the sound of someone's laughter and screams coming from Reaka and then something hitting Zoro over the head extreamly hard.

~~~~~~~~~~A/N: Ok, yeah I know. This chapter waaay sucks and I'm sorry please for give me, o-

Zoro: Hey! Did you just turn my girlfriend into a vampire!

Alpine: No, vampires only take from people. Reaka gave you venom in return.

Zoro: You really hate me, don't you..?

Alpine: *smile with two thumbs up!*

Zoro: *Grabs Alpine around the waist* But you realize I still love you the most, correct.

Alpine: *squirms to get free* Zoro, let go! I thought we went over this already! *finally gives up and just hangs in his arms, grumbling*


	16. Moving Forward Again

A/N: Hi, everybody! I'm finally back with another chapter! Yay...! Well anyways, the next one might not be for a while yet considering that I'm getting my wisdom teeth out tomorrow... Take care everyone!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moving Forward Again

~Zoro's Surroundings~

Zoro groaned as he awoke.

'Dang it! What happened?'Thoughts raced through his mind as he started to his knees. Even though his movements were slow they were extremely painful and caused more blood to flow from the wound in his side. His wounds were making it hard to breath also; as it was, the blood in his mouth was starting to cake into a sticky goo. Zoro gritted his teeth as he forced his body into a sitting position.

"I'm gonna kill who ever did this...!" He grumbled as he wiped drying blood from his mouth.

~Luffy's Crew~

"what happened..?" Chopper asked, blinking as he held Robin's hand and looked around.

"Hard to be sure, Doctor-san." Robin replied, just as confused as Chopper and the rest of the group. In the midst of battle, their foes had dried up and crumbled, leaving only large piles of cracked jade in their place. Luffy looked around at his crew; each one of them were covered in wounds, from scratches to major gashes, depending on who they were. Plus, Sanji's ribs were messing up his insides so bad that he was starting to get a high fever, so Chopper was running over to help him while the others checked their own wounds.

"Stop it, Chopper. We need to go help Reaka-san!" Sanji said, gently pushing the little reindeer away as he tried to get up but quickly fell to the ground again.

"No way, Sanji! I'm the doctor and I'm not letting you go until I find out what's wrong!" Chopper forcefully informed him as he placed a hoof to Sanji's forehead to check his temperature. Sanji was about to protest when suddenly Luffy butted in, surprising them all.

"Hold it!" One of Luffy's rare 'serious' moment had hit, like they would when his crew really needed him,

"Sanji, stay here and let Chopper take care of you." He started, causing Sanji and Chopper to stare at him,

"Usopp, Nami. I want you to stay and guard them, make sure Sanji doesn't go anywhere 'til Chopper's done. And if you guys get attacked, I want Chopper to stay helping Sanji as long as he can before entering battle. I'm going to help Zoro and I'm taking Brook, Franky and Robin with me. Everybody got that?" Luffy told them the plan, his captain's spirit showing, making everyone gawk in shock at his idea.

"Aye, Captain!" They responded before quickly moving into their groups.

"Let's go!" Luffy yelled to his team and took off towards the other cavern.

~Jade~Fyre Forest~

Reaka finally broke free from her kidnappers. She tied off the sheet Zoro had given her so that it now had a dress-like feel. Reaka rushed through the forest, she was headed for a hidden cave that only she and High Cloud knew about. But upon entering a clearing in the middle of the forest, she was caught in an ambush.

"Calm youself, my dear." A tall, dark haired man walked out of the trees, a large coat draped over his shoulders. Reaka snorted, she stood tall with her back slouched backwards just a tad and her hands resting her defined hips.

"And what will you be doing if I don't?" She inquired of him, a slight jeering sound to her voice, as pirates started to circle around her.

"Vice-captain, what shall we do with her?" A nearby pirate asked the dark haired man, who simply smirked.

"Capture her of course, you idiot! I got word that the captain that he will be joining us soon to witness the Magma-Jade's awesome power." Vice-captain Kimph sneered as men moved closer to Reaka. Shrugging, Reaka conversed with them while she waited for a nearby swordsman to come closer.

"Oh dear... It would seem that I'm caught either way..." She started, shooking her head and then kicked the nearby swordsman and took up his weapon, "But I'm not going down without a fight!"

~Luffy's Team~

They finally got to the other cavern, which ended up being a room even larger than the last and had corridor at the other side.

"Captain-san?" Luffy quickly turned around as he heard Robin call him.

"Yeah?" Robin had a worried look in her eye as told him, "Doctor-san said that he smelled smoke and the pirates from before coming from this direction." Luffy frowned before turning around.

"Ok. We better go find Zoro..." He informed them and took off again with other close behind.

'I hope Reaka-san is ok...' Robin thought to herself.

~Zoro's Surroundings~

Zoro was extremely angry at his body's horrid condition as he forced himself to jog down the corridor. He could smell Reaka's special sent.

'The smell of lavender and spice is draped all around this place. Whoever did this better not have hurt her or else they're getting their smashed in even farther then what I have planned...!' He thought to himself as he continued.

~Chopper's Team~

Sanji lay spread out with his back on the cool stone floor with his shirt and vest unbuttoned and open, revealing his bare chest so that Chopper could work. Sanji's fever was finally starting to go down little by little but was still extremely high. He moaned in pain as Chopper bound his fractured ribs with some materials from Usopp and his bags. 'This is bad... His fever is still really high and he keeps trying to drift off to sleep... But luckily his ribs didn't puncture any of his organs, only irritate them.' Chopper's thoughts raced as he checked Sanji's temperature again and then went back to fixing the wounds.

M~*~L

Nami was poking around the fountain when she suddenly found the ledge where Reaka had left her cloths; but there was also a loose stone in the wall.

"Hey, Usopp! Come here for a sec, would you." Usopp looked from where he was checking the "stars" for his slingshot, and headed over to Nami after he heard her call.

"Nami, what's the matter?" He asked her while walking over there.

"I found this weird loose stone," Nami responded as she pointed at it, "look, it has a rose engraved on it."

The two of them looked closer as she pressed it. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and floor beneath them crumbled.

M~*~L

Chopper looked up from what her was doing as he felt the ground rumble.

"What was that...?" He wanted to go see but he promised Luffy that he wouldn't leave Sanji's side, which was good since he kept slipping back and forth between sleep, for if he fell asleep at this point he may never wake up.

"Usopp, Nami! What's all the noise about?" Chopper called out but to his dismay, there was no reply.

M~*~L

The two of them fell for a short time when suddenly they hit the bottom. Nami let out an "ooof!" as she landed on something soft.

"Oi, Nami... Would you mind getting off!" She heard Usopp call, he wasn't usually that bossy but he was in a very uncomfortable position.

"Oh! Sorry, Usopp." Nami apologized and she quickly stood up with him soon following.

"Wow! What is this beautiful place!"

A/N: Hope you guys liked it, and once again I am sorry. Staying in character is super hard for me...!


	17. Author's Note

Major A/N: Hi everyone, this is just a super, tiny update. I am currently very busy with school. .' But I am working on the next chapter for this story. So please just hold on, I am very sorry for the delay. I will be updating as soon as possible.~~~~~

Usopp and Nami looked around at the beautiful room. In the middle of the room was a beautiful stone fountain, the flowing water glowed with beautiful lights coming from the middle of the fountain's bowl. The glow of the fountain shown off all the wondrous jewels coming out of the hard stone walls. "Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds! They're all so beautiful!" Nami exclaimed as she looked around, her eyes turning into berries signs. Usopp simply ignored her and looked around, when suddenly there was a loud buzzing noise and a horrific pain shot through Usopp and Nami's head.


	18. New Companions

A/N: Holy Falcon Crayfish! I actually got around to updating this story! I am so sorry I have not done it until know! I'm having the weirdest case of writer's block! It only blocks off certain stories! I hate it so much! * ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Companions

Reaka laughed as the men closed in, she had wanted to test her sword skills on people other than the man she loved. Someone suddenly rushed her; she sidestepped and stuck her leg out, tripping him as she shrugged.

"Sorry, dude… I didn't see you…" She said as she batted her eyelashes and smile innocently. Anger rising among the ranks, they all went for her at once. Reaka knew there was no way she could take them all on at once. She became surprised as someone deflected a sword that was about to hit her.

"Careful, honey…" Reaka turned to see it was a flat chested girl who had save her and was now standing back to back with her. She gave this new girl a weird look.

"Us girls gotta stick together, ya know!" Was her reply to the silent question as the two started to beat back the men together, "What's yur name?"

"Reaka. Pleasure to meet you."

"Cool, my name's Nagaru."

~Luffy's Team~

Luffy and his tiny team raced down the dark, stone corridor. They could see the massive trail of blood showing them the way; they just hoped that when they found Zoro he was ok. The constant slap of shoes and feet on stone was having a very strange effect on Luffy; it was actually starting to annoy him. He had always loved exploring down deep corridors and things but now that the lives of more than one of his nakama was on the line he found himself getting very agitated and it was started to unnerve him…

~Nami and Usopp~

Once the pain stopped, Nami and Usopp opened their eyes and promptly freaked out. They were standing in the midst of a beautiful room filled with lavender and green mist, glowing sparkles floating through the air and two waterfalls that had glowing blue water flowing from them.

"Usopp! Where are we!" Nami squeaked to her companion as they clung to each other in fear and looked around, shivering.

"Worry not, children. You are safe within this realm." The two quickly turned around to look at the person who had spoken and started to wish they hadn't. The woman who had spoken was walking towards them; she was tall and thin but much to the dismay of Nami and Usopp, she wore the same type of stone armor as Reaka did only this woman's was blue. Telling they were frightened, she offered her hand to them.

"I am Trusesa, the keeper of the Magma~Sapphire."

"D-does that mean y-you're g-gonna try and k-kill us too?" Usopp managed to stutter through chattering teeth as he shook her hand.

"Oh, of course not, dear. I have far more control of my powers and I need you two. I can only move about in the dreamscape and I need you to make sure a message gets to Reaka." Usopp and Nami let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

"That's cool then, lady. What's the message?"

~Zoro Surroundings~

Zoro finally collapsed near the exit to the winding corridor he struggled his way through.

"Stupid wounds, I won't get anywhere like this…!" His voice came out in a pain growl; he could see the forest from his place on the ground. He was that close and there was nothing he could do! He coughed up a mouthful of bloody mucus and spit it on the ground next to him. He hated this situation… Suddenly his senses perked as he heard footsteps coming from both the corridor behind him and the deep forest.

"Zoro!" Rolling his eyes at the voice of his stupid captain, how he had never been so relieved to hear it before. The sound of sandals slapping stone grew louder and faster until the rubber-man came skidding to a halt just a few feet away from him.

"Zoro, are you ok?"

"Oh yeah, Luffy. I'm doing just great, never felt better!" Zoro glared at his captain then yelled, "No! I'm not ok! Did happened you to forget that the woman I love has been kidnapped and that I'm sitting here on the floor bleeding to death and unable to go get her!" Luffy could only grin happily at the fact that Zoro was alive there and talking to him. Soon the other came up panting, besides Brook and nodded to Zoro in greeting. Robin was about to say something when she was interrupted by a boy that came running out of the forest.

"Are you the Strawhat Pirates? If so, come with me! I know where your crewmate is!"

~~~~~~~A/N: I know, it was a horrible excuse for an update and I'm very sorry but at least I'm finally done with that horrible school report! Well, this story is almost finished!


	19. Will This Never End!

A/N: I'm back! With an actual update this time! We're finally getting SOMEWHERE, I'm sure where but we're getting there! This one is finally longer!~~

_Will This Never End?_

_~Luffy's group~_

The look that the kid got from Luffy and Zoro was so frightening that his brain went completely blank.

"Oi, my nakama, where is she? Take me now!"

"Uh..Uh… Luffy-san, it could be a trap!"

"I don't care, we're going!"

"I-I'm coming too.." Zoro's words came out between pants, making Luffy look at him and frown before turning back to the newcomer.

"Guys, follow me! Robin, keep Zoro here for as long as you can while you run."

"Aye, Captain-san." Zoro growled as the ground sprouted arms and held him in place as he watched Luffy take off after the new boy. He hated being like this, if only Reaka hadn't drugged him then maybe he would have been okay. He snorted in defeat and let his body relax, making the arms disappear, as he had told Robin that he wouldn't run.

_~Usopp and Nami~_

The two were shocked at the information they had just received.

"THERE'S MORE OF THESE THINGS!" Both yelled at the same time making Trusesa blink in shock as Nami raced over, grabbed her by the shoulders and started to shake the older woman harshly.

"Are you insane, woman? You want us to tell Reaka that she, as the holder of the Magma~Jade, has to go to this other island to rescue three OTHER magma stones! Is that what you're trying to tell us!" By this point, Trusesa was getting very dizzy and could only nod in return.  
"Oi, Nami. Don't hurt her!"

"Why not! She's practically telling us to go commit suicide!" Nami's voice became high pitched and filled with annoyance as she dropped the dizzy dragon woman on the ground and turned to Usopp.

"Don't you understand, Usopp? Reaka by herself almost killed us with a stone type as weak as jade. Just imagine what the owners of the Magma~Onyx, sapphire and ruby would be like!" It didn't take long for Usopp to realized just what his crewmate was saying, making him freak out and take his turn to yell at the woman.

"Oi! Are you insane, lady! Like heck we'll do that!" Trusesa finally recovered and stood up again, sighing as she looked at the two frightened teenagers. She wrapped her wings around herself to prevent further attacks.

"I wouldn't ask this of you, children, unless it was very important."

"Here we go… Guilty trip time…!"

"Shut it, idiot!"

"As I was saying, I severely need your help… Young Reaka is still in danger as are many others if you do not rescue those stones; if left in the wrong hands, they could destroy continental islands!"

"Holy cr-!"

"Children, language!"

"Sorry…." Usopp warily walked up to her and scratched the back of his head.

"But Trusesa, how can we help? Doesn't a jewel need a specific host in order to recover it?"

"No, only the Magma~Jade does, that what makes it ruler over the others; because most Magma~Jade users are pure of heart, they are given the power to release the other gems from false users." Nami sighed as a drop formed from Usopp's head at weirdness of how this was playing out.

"Oh, I see… No pressure than…..?"

"Oh, be quiet, Usopp…!"

"So will you two please inform Reaka that she still has tasks ahead of her?"

"Ugh, fine….! But how are we to get to this other island? This one wasn't on any of my maps so I doubt the next one will be!"

"Not to worry, young one… I shall give you its location so that you can write it down." Trusesa replied as she placed a clawed hand on Nami's head, telepathically implanting the image into the girl's head before she pulled back, "The time draws near for your departure… You must leave this place. But I have one more message for Reaka."

"Aww, crud…! Another one?"

"Hehe, worry not, young man. This is a message that I'm sure both and her loving partner will injoy greatly in they are both true of heart."

"Oh, ok then! What is it?"

"Tell them that if they make it back to their home and true love holds within their hearts, the Magma~Jade will form stone bands upon their fingers as a sign of marriage; one that is both legally and spiritual pure." She smiled at them and they stared back in happy realization.

"Wow, they're gonna be married!"

"How awesome is that?"

"Yes indeed, children… But now I must send you back to you own world; my time is coming to an end…" Usopp opened his mouth to protest when suddenly the slight pain came back and their minds fogged over. When they awoke, they lay crumpled on the floor next to each other. Nami was the first to sit up and hold her head in pain.

"Ugh… She's really gotta find a new way at contacting us….."

"No kidding! My head feels like it got hit by boat!" Nami quickly scrambled her feet, dragging Usopp with her.

"Usopp, we gotta help get Sanji-kun back to the Sunny! Trusesa said that it'll be time for us to leave soon; we gotta make sure everything's ready to leave. Her crewmate sighed as they began to climb up the rocky wall, Nami grabbing some jewels as they passed by, because he knew that by 'we' she meant him and Chopper since Sanji would most likely not be helping with anything anytime soon.

_~Luffy's Group~_

Skrigg looked on in total amazement as Luffy tore through the forest and underbrush, looking desperately for his newest lost nakama.

"REAKA!" Skrigg's eye twitched in pain at the shear volume that this guy could reach; it was deafening!

_~Jade~Fyre Forest~_

Reaka looked up from her battle to blink at Nagaru in a confused manor.

"Luffy?" The flat-chested girl could only shrug in response before smashing the heel of her boot into an ex-crewmate's face. Reaka shrugged it off and went back to work. Two pirates rushed her, one on each side; in one swift movement, she attacked both. A hard kick to the stomach for the one on the left while she concentrated on the pirate to the right; aiming a punch to the face to distract him while taking the advantage to slice through the flesh of his abdomen with her stolen sword. Nagaru roundhouse kicked three pirates, successfully hitting them into their crew mates with a great force then jumped backwards so that she was back to back with Reaka once more.

"Dang, they just keep comin'! I don't remember there bein' this many of 'em!" Both girls were tired, sweaty and hot; they really did want to be doing this with their day! As if in a cruel response for their want for the battle to be over, the ground suddenly shudder and Reaka heard a high pitched squeak behind her that was followed by a hard smacking noise. Reaka swiftly turned around just in time to see Nagaru get smacked by an extremely large man, Vice-captain Kimph, and slide forcefully across the forest floor.

"Nagaru! Ak!" Her eyes widened as she let out a choked cry; the man grabbed her by the makeshift dress and lifted her above the ground.

"Now, little flower. You will hand over the jewel to me and maybe I let you have the honor of being my sweet little cabin girl…" He growled in her ear in what Reaka guessed he thought to be his most seductive voice; frankly, Zoro's was much better. The girl's response as Reaka putting a finger in her mouth and making a gagging noise then in one swift movement, she shoved her foot as hard as she could into the man's groin; making him howl in pain a he tossed her over towards the now unconscious Nagaru (he had hit her extremely hard in the head).

"As if, buddy, I'd rather swallow broken glass! Plus, my body's waiting for someone else and only I can make the Magma~Jade work!" Kimph was about to grab the girl again when a loud voice cut through the forest.

"HEY, YOU! KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY NAKAMA!"

~~~~~~A/N: Ok, everyone. Just one more chapter to go and it's gonna be super anticlimactic because I suck at fight scenes! woo... Yeah, but anyways... Please R&R. Also, I was thinking about a sequel to this story since you guys tend to like it for some reason. I was thinking of putting more couples in it, ones that I just personally love. Here they are, tell me what you guys, my loyal readers, think:

ZoroxReaka

LuffyxNami (that one's gonna be hard to stay in character...)

FrankyxRobin

UsoppxKaya

KohzaxVivi

But yeah, I won't be able to work on it until I get you input. ^^ tell what ya think...


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